Unexpected
by FatPat
Summary: Mojo, Him, and the Rowdyruffs think they've devised the perfect plan to destroy the girls. However, you know what they say about making assumptions. PPG/RRB
1. Introducing the Plan

It's amazing how much simpler life was when we were kids.

Before we moved, life in Townsville was always the same. We would go out, stir up trouble, fight the Powerpuffs, lose, and head home. Mojo would come up with a plan only for it to fail. Him would come up with a plan only for it to fail. They'd argue with us, argue with each other, and then come up with new plans. Thus the cycle repeated. For five years this went on.

One day, something unexpected happened.

I remember it very clearly. It was another lazy Sunday afternoon. I was stretched out on my red beanbag reading a comic book in the living room. My eyes looked over the words without reading any of them. The pictures went by in unfocused blurs. I keep looked up at the walls. Normally I loved being in that room, but not today. The walls were adorned with dozens of weapons that Mojo had built over the years. Most people like to hang pictures or animal heads, but Mojo's not like most people. On the other side of the room the blaring sound of gunfire rang loudly. It was coming from the TV, not any of the actual guns. Just my brothers playing some shooting game. I don't know why they enjoy it so much. After all, we are super powered beings who can take down an army with our bare hands.

That brings me to the reason why I wasn't feeling fond of that room. The thing is, the living room used to be my favorite room. I always loved looking over the vast array of weapons Mojo had put up. Sometimes, just for kicks, my brothers and I would randomly grab a few and see what they could do to the Townsville locals. Yesterday we had done just that. As per usual, the Powerpuffs came to stop us. And as per usual they were winning.

Blossom had landed a perfectly precise strike right into my chest. I flew back into a nearby skyscraper. First I felt the glass window shatter on my back, followed by a desk splitting in two as I rammed through it. My head bashed a wall over and my body started slowing down, only to be stopped by another wall. I slowly got up to see her standing there, per usual. It was just another typical battle. I had lost like always and now it was time for Blossom to claim her superiority and for me to fly home.

But today, something unexpected happened.

Blossom was standing there with her hands of her hips, looking at me. I was sitting there by the cracked wall, looking back at her. A minute past by and she just kept looking. I started getting confused, even a little concerned. This wasn't part of the routine. After another minute, she said something. Something I won't ever forget.

"Brick…you don't have to be a weapon you know. You could…you…"

She sighed. Her eyes fell to the floor along with her hands. Even her big red bow seemed to droop down a bit. She gave me one last sad look, then flew off.

That night her words kept me from getting any sleep. I just kept thinking about that one word…weapon. The next day my attention wasn't on my comic book. It was on the walls. If Mojo hung me up there, I'd fit in perfectly. He didn't create me because he wanted kids; he created me to destroy the Powerpuffs; to be his ultimate weapon.

"Boys! Listen to me carefully, for I have an important announcement!"

"_Well speak of the devil_," I thought as said monkey came into the room. "_Actually, scratch that_." I thought as I noticed him being followed but a certain clawed demon.

My brothers flew over. "Make it quick," Butch complained, "We're trying to play our game here."

"You'll have to wait for bit honey, because mommy and I have two important announcements." Him replied in his strange, feminine voice. I chuckled when I saw the irritation on Mojo's face.

"Yes, thank you for pointing that out." Mojo said sarcastically as he shot Him a death glare. "As you boys know, we have had no success in destroying the Powerpuff girls for many years now. We have come up with hundreds and hundreds of plans, but not a single one has worked. They all failed, were foiled, botched, unsuccessful, getting close but not close enough, flops, bombed…"

"Oh man we're gonna be here all night." Boomer whined.

"**Get it on with it Mojo**!" Him yelled as he hit the monkey in the back of the head.

"Yes, yes." Mojo rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, this time will be different. Our newest plan is going to succeed in ways no one will see coming!"

"I've heard that one before." I said.

Him let out a small, girlish laugh. "Tell me Brick, what do mommy's plans always have in common?"

"You mean besides from sucking?"

Him laughed again as Mojo growled angrily. "Let me put it this way, when I'm trying to destroy the girls, how do I go about it?"

"Well when we're not helping you…" Boomer said, scratching his blond hair, "You're always doing stuff to their minds that I can't ever figure out."

"That's right Boomie. There's a smart boy." Him began patting my brother on his head, getting an annoyed look from "Boomie".

"But that's not what Mom does," Butch said, "Mom always uses some kind of super weapon to blow them into dust."

Mojo growled as steam came out of his ears. "FOR GOODNESS SAKES, I AM NOT ANYONE'S MOTHER! But you are correct Butch. I always go about their destruction through physical means. Be it lasers, giant robots, unstoppable super weapons, or you three boys."

"_Yeah great_," I thought to myself as my heart sank down, "_that's exactly what we're supposed to be_._ Unstoppable super weapons_."

Him extended his arms and brought us all into a hug. "You see boys, Mojo and I have come up with plan that will destroy those pesky girls both physically and mentally. The only way we can do is by working together as one big evil family."

"Yes, which is why we're moving." Mojo proclaimed as he pushed Him's arms off.

My brothers and I looked at each other. "Why do we need to move?" We all asked at the same time.

"What an excellent question." Him replied. "For this plan to work it's imperative that you boys go to school."

"WHAT!" The three of us yelled out.

Butch stomped on the ground, causing a crack to appear. "We don't need to go to stupid school! Besides, Mom teaches us school himself!"

Looking back, I guess that's why I decided that my brothers and I were going to live with "Mom" instead of "Dad". Mojo may be an annoying, psychotic jerk, but he's always had a soft spot for us. Him may be the more affectionate parent from a distance, but I've always known that deep down he only does it as a means to control us. Mojo had been home schooling us for a few years and did genuinely treat us like we were his children. I didn't know it at the time, but I've always wanted to be treated like that. Treated like a person. The only problem is that if my brothers and I ever lost our powers, then Mojo would immediately throw us into a ditch somewhere. In the end, we're just…weapons.

"It's not the education you need." Him explained. "It's the school environment. Remember, we're going to be destroying the girls mentally."

"So what does that have to do with moving and going to school?" Boomer asked.

"It is simple." Mojo said. "In seven years the Powerpuff girls are going to be in the middle of attending high school."

"So," Butch scoffed. "What does that have to do with anything? Why do we have to wait eight years when we can just crush them now?"

"We cannot crush them now, Butch! Have the last five years taught you nothing?"

I flew over and started knocking on Butch's head. "Judging by the echo I hear…"

"Hey knock it off!" Butch yelled as he took a swing at me.

Him grabbed is with his claws. "Boys please, let mommy finish explaining the plan before you start asking questions."

"Stop calling me that!" Mojo yelled as he stomped on the floor. He let out a defeated sigh and continued. "You see boys, high school is an evil, malicious place. It is filled with the most treacherous creatures known to mankind;" We leaned in, eyes wide in curiosity. Mojo was silent for a moment. He looked at us back and forth, and then yelled out "TEENAGERS!"

The room was silent. I looked at him with one of my eyes slightly raised. I could hear a bird chirping by the open window.

"You'll have to trust us on this one." Him said, winking at us.

Mojo cleared his throat, looked from side to side and continued. "Being a teenager is the most difficult part of life. Hormones acting up, trying to become independent, fearing the future, temptations all around, questioning your existence, trying to prove yourself to your peers, and while suffering all these dilemmas you have to spend the whole day surrounded by hundreds of others suffering with the exact same colossal mountain of dilemmas!"

The room went silent again. Boomer absentminded cracked his fingers. "Sounds tough."

"Oh it is, as you boys will soon learn. And not just you, but the Powerpuff Girls as well! They may have super powered bodies, but they still have the minds of girls. Mentally they are just as vulnerable as any regular human girl, and that is the key to destroying them! It is an element that you boys can take advantage of and we shall train you to do so!"

"So why do you need us to do it?" I asked. "This is your department Dad. Can't _you _just mess with them when they're in high school?"

Him gathered us up into a huddle this time. "Oh but there's something you boys have with the girls that's special. Something that the rest of us villains don't have with them."

"What's that?" The three of us asked.

"When you boys fight with the girls, you don't use any of mommy's weapons do you?"

"No way!" Butch yelled. "We can beat up those stupid girls with our fists! Punch them right in their ugly faces!"

"That's right. You boys can go toe to toe with the girls. I can't do that, and neither can mommy, or fuzzy, or sedusa, or the gangreen gang, or anybody else. When you fight the girls it all comes down to your similar, super powered abilities. That makes you rivals."

"So that's important?" Boomer asked.

"Oh goodness yes! When rivals fight each other it's not about winning or losing or saving the world. **It's about whose better**. If you can beat the Powerpuff Girls at their own game you won't just win, you'll show them that you're better than they are. You'll be the superior versions, **and that will crush them in a way the rest of us can never achieve**."

"To do this," Mojo chimed in, "you will have to train hard. Brick, you must study as hard as you can in order to beat Blossom academically."

I smirked. "That would drive her completely crazy."

"Butch, you must train your body vigorously so that you can outdo Buttercup as a fighter."

"Sounds good to me!" Butch said as he did a fist pump.

"And Boomer, you must trick Bubbles into thinking you are her friend, then reveal it as a lie and crush her faith in the world."

Boomer let out a small neutral sound and looked to the side.

"Once the Powerpuffs are at their lowest point, then we will strike! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Him clapped his claws together. "You boys will need to get yourselves equated with the social life of your peers. If we do that here the Powerpuff Girls are bound to notice, hence why we are moving. Now go pack your bags boys. **We've got a lot of work ahead of us**."

That day the cycle ended. The five of us disappeared from Townsville without a trace. Mojo had the Townsville Times sent to our new address in order to keep an eye on what was happening. Naturally there were numerous articles speculating on us, but after a few weeks the interest died down. As per usual, the girls spent the next few years saving the day. The five of us got so busy that no one noticed when the subscription was up.

It's too bad, because a lot of unexpected things were happening.


	2. Brick's First Day

I shook my head as I looked over the syllabuses for my classes. Mojo was absolutely right. This was going to be a walk in the park for me. "But remember Brick," Mojo had instructed to me, "you are responsible for your brothers. You are the oldest, the smartest, and the most responsible. Make sure your brothers get through their classes and stay focused on the plan."

It felt odd having the wind blow through my hair. This stupid private school has a rule against wearing hats. We had spent the last seven years going to various public schools. I'm going to miss having my long hair crashing down from under my red cap, but those are the breaks. Now it's short hair with no cap. As Butch would say, I look like a tool. Though I'm not a hundred percent sure what that means. I looked down at my schedule sprawled across the first page. We were going into this blind. No idea if we shared any classes with the Puffs. I'd suggested to Mojo that he hack into the school and set things up, but he refused. "We have invested too much time into this plan to risk it." He had told me. "If Him or I are seen in Townsville it could very well jeopardize the plan. The girls will become suspicious. They will search for clues, try and put two and two together, investigate where we have been…" Yeah you get the picture.

I do share a few classes with my brothers. Two with Butch and one with Boomer. I sincerely wish Butch and I would have every class together. Boomer can behave himself, but Butch…let's just say he's the reason we had to keep hopping from town to town and switching schools.

Luckily I had already found an entry point. Blossom was in charge of some club at the school she had founded called the "Better Understanding" club. It did not escape me that she and the club shared initials. Somehow I don't think that's a coincidence. This was great for me as I had another layer to work with. When I turn that club against her and ruin all her work, my job will be all but done. The club wasn't meeting for another week, but I had already signed up.

I had put my real name on the attendance sheet for her club, not one of the fake names we were all using. She knows I'm here, and that I'm coming for her.

* * *

My first class was mostly uneventful. Just an advanced placement Government class. I hated this political crap but I needed to take as many AP courses as possible. There was no sign of Blossom, but there was something odd.

I was sitting in the back of the class. This is a small school so the students all know each other. Being new meant I stuck out. All of them were taking glances at me, which I promptly ignored. Then someone came into the room who made me feel ashamed I had not just worn my damn cap.

She wasn't wearing the school uniform. It had a similar design, being a skirt and button shirt combo, but the color was a dark purple. Not just one shade but multiple shades. When I looked closely I could see that there were a number of slightly different shades going around in a circle. It's a bit difficult to describe in words, almost like she was wearing an aura. Black stockings covered both her legs and arms. Then there was her hair.

It was a bright shade of blonde.

"_Odd for a goth to have hair like that_." I had thought to myself. She sat down next to me and absentmindedly stared out the window. Didn't even spare me a passing glance. Her eyes were glazed over with boredom and a touch of gloom.

They were also a bright shade of blue. Just like Boomer's eyes.

"_Is she the Blue Puff_?" I had wondered. How could that be possible? The Blue Puff would have been beaming like the sun and chatting it up with all the other kids in the classroom. To my annoyance the teacher didn't do a roll call. I'm guessing there was no need, given how small this school was. The teacher did point me out as a new student which caused everyone to look me.

Everyone except her.

* * *

Things were more interesting in my second class. It's a basic shop class that I share with Butch. But he wasn't the only brunet with a preference for green in the class. Figures that she would be in a shop class rather than home economics. I have to say I'm rather impressed with the facilities they have at this school. This shop class, which they call technical education instead of shop, is filled with state of the art equipment. Has a decent range of subjects as well: car engines, photography, architecture, even robotics.

Butch immediately dragged me into the car engine station once we were allowed to pick. "Why do you want to learn about cars?" I asked him. "We can fly, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Cars have nothing to do with getting around, in case you hadn't noticed." He shot back.

"Then why don't you enlighten me."

Butch had already opened up some kind of manual. "Cars are huge chick magnets you idiot. If you get yourself a fine car then you're gonna have yourself some fine ass."

"Need I remind you that we're Demi-Gods compared to these humans? You're not going to need a car to help you impress some loose girl."

Butch merely shook his head. "Oh Brick, you just don't understand. I blame myself. I should have been there for you."

I decided not to respond to that idiotic comment.

Our instructor came in and began the first lesson. Butch sat perfectly still and gave his full attention. You'd think I'd be happy, but this was a curse in disguise. Butch wasn't looking around at anything else, including the Green Puff. She was no doubt suspicious of us. I mean how many people do you know with red eyes? She was over in the robotics area that could be seen through the open door. She occasionally glanced over, checking us out. Of course, nearly every student was doing that. We were the new guys after all.

My mind halted and backed up. _She's in the robotics department_.

When the instructor had his back turned I poked Butch in the side. "Why is she over in the robotics department?" I whispered.

"I don't know." Butch whispered back as he shrugged. "She probably got stuck there."

"How could she get stuck there, we got to pick our stations."

"I don't know, maybe everything else was full. Use that super amazing brain of yours and figure it out."

I tried to respond but the teacher turned around. I spent the next ten minutes observing the Green Puff as best I could. Butch's theory wasn't holding up. The Green Puff looked genuinely interested in the large robotic claw her group was studying. Very strange indeed. She looked over at me a few times. Her eyes had more of a curious expression than a suspicious one. Once the teacher had turned around I poked Butch in the side again.

He gave me an annoyed look. "What do you want?" He hissed.

"You're supposed to be keeping an eye on the Puff. Don't forget the whole reason we came here."

"I freaking know that Brick. Once school is over I'll scoop out the sports teams and find which one's she's on."

"You still need to keep an eye on her in this class. There might be something we can use against her."

"I'll get her when I'm out on the soccer field or whatever."

"We're on a mission here Butch."

"Yeah well if Mom and Dad want me to stalk her all freaking day long they can suck it. Now quit bugging me, I'm trying to listen to the teacher."

This place is starting to feel like some kind of bizarro universe.

* * *

My third class was AP Calculus. No Puffs to be seen. My fourth class was AP Computer Science. No Puffs either.

* * *

I lay under a tree with my lunch. The sky was a beautiful light blue. A few stray clouds dotting here and there. I was too annoyed to eat anything. I signed up for as many AP classes as I could, hoping to run into Blossom. The day was already half over and I hadn't seen so much as a flash of her pink bow. "_Wait, she wouldn't be wearing a bow, it's not part of the dress code_." I reminded myself. "_Come on Brick get your head in the game. We've still got four more classes to go_."

My thoughts were interrupted as a brown bag fell onto my head. I was very tempted to blast the annoyance into dust with my laser beams, but opted for the less attention grabbing method of using my hand. I met with the dark green eyes of my moronic brother. Once again feeling tempted to use my laser eyes.

"Sorry man, thought you were rock." He said as he laughed at his own stupid joke.

I sat up and stretched my neck a bit. "If you want me to kick your ass you can just ask."

"Yeah well before you do that you might be interested to know that I had a class with a certain redhead."

"_You _had a class with her?" I asked, giving him my full attention.

"Yup, Spanish class."

"But you're in a beginner Spanish class."

"Yeah, and so is she." Butch said nonchalantly as he dug into his lunch bag.

I listened to him scarf down an apple while my mind digested this new information. "Why is she in a beginner Spanish class?"

"Well word on the street is that people take beginner Spanish classes…to learn Spanish!"

I gave him a narrow look as he mocked me with crossed eyes. How very strange. Why would that overachieving, egotistical Puff be taking a beginner class her junior year?

Boomer arrived and sat down next to me. "Hey guys. Any luck so far?"

"Totally," Butch replied, "Me and Brick get to build an engine! By next year I'm gonna have my own custom car and completely rock this sorry town."

"Uhh I meant the Puffs."

"Oh them. I saw two of them so far. Haven't seen the blue one though."

Boomer began fishing through his bag. "I saw Buttercup in my English class but I haven't seen Bubbles yet." He let out a little sigh and took a bite out of his sandwich. "So I guess nobody's seen Bubbles?"

I stuffed an Oreo in my mouth and thought about my first class. "Actually I might have…"

"You saw her?" Boomer asked, looking at me.

"No it couldn't have been her. Just some blonde goth chick who kind of looked like her."

Butch let out a laugh. "Blonde goth chick? What's that all about? Isn't that an oxymoron?"

"Yeah I suppose so." I replied.

Boomer was looking at the sky, his sandwich forgotten. "Did you ask anyone if it was Bubbles?"

"No. Figured I'd wait and see if the Blue Puff pops up later. If we don't see her anywhere I'll ask somebody tomorrow."

"Maybe she doesn't even go to this school." Butch suggested as he chewed his food.

There was something I hadn't considered. "Wow. You actually have a point there."

Butch told me to go to hell as he stuffed more food in his mouth. Boomer apparently didn't have any appetite and was lying down, looking at the sky. "But didn't Mom and Dad say they all go here?"

I reached into my brown bag and pulled out a bag of peanuts. I was not in the mood for food so I started flicking them into the air. Butch tried to grab the bag. "Hey if you're not gonna eat those then let me have 'em." He complained.

"Fine I'll eat them." I said as I plopped a handful into my mouth. "I'm not sure if the Blue Puff is here. We knew Blossom was here because of all the awards she won. I think Mojo and Him just kind of assumed the other two would be here."

"What about Buttercup?" Butch asked.

"We already saw her."

"No I mean didn't she win any awards? Like for sports?"

"Mojo and Him didn't mention her at all."

We heard the bell ring. I stuffed the rest of the peanuts into my mouth and we started walking back.

Butch let out an annoyed sigh. "Hey you don't think they banned her from playing sports do you? What with being a Demi-God and all."

Now there were two factors that had flown over my head. I must say, very unexpected.

* * *

The fifth class of the day brought me to AP Chemistry. Mojo had taught me more about science then probably this whole school combined knew about. Never had much of an interest though. I had gotten there early and retreated to the back. Kids began to come in one by one. My irritation grew bit by bit. Where the hell was Blossom? She had to be in at least one of these classes. Most of my irritation evaporated when I saw the Green Puff enter the classroom. It was immediately replaced with confusion.

The Green Puff was in an AP Chemistry class.

She looked back at me. She raised an eye up, giving me that suspicious look I'd been waiting for. Although it may have been more at my current expression. I realized I had been staring at her like a dumbfounded idiot. I quickly moved my head to the right and rested on my left arm.

I watched and listened to her carefully throughout the class. She was one of the few people answering the teacher's questions. To me this is baby stuff, but even then the Green Puff clearly had an impressive understanding of chemistry.

"_Why is she the one here_?" I wondered to myself. "_It should be Blossom sitting there in an AP Chemistry class. It should be Blossom answering all the questions like a little teacher's pet. Not the green one! Not the one that acts like Butch_." The bell rang and I left without looking at her. Why was the universe messing with me like this? This day was supposed to be nice and clear like how I predicted it. The blue one was supposed to be dancing around and singing in the halls. The green one was supposed to be out playing sports. And Blossom was supposed to be in my AP classes shooting death glares at me to cover up her fear. Why has there been nothing all day but unexpected situations?

* * *

Pink eyes. It had been seven years since I had seen her pink eyes. And now here they were again, like they had never been gone.

Just when I was starting to doubt this plan, there she was. Having a conversation near the doorway of my sixth class, AP English. And my eyes spied the pink bow. I wasn't expecting to see that. I shifted my eyes back down to her face. I got closer. She was laughing now. Probably telling some stupid joke to whatever preppy kids were listening. I got closer. Almost at the door. My eyes stayed locked onto hers. Just as I reached the door, pink eyes met mine.

I always hated those stupid moments in movies when time somehow magically slows down. It mostly happens when two people notice each other across the room. Such a lame attempt to build drama. I guess I'm going to have to cut those film makers some slack now, because I was having one of those moments.

She had that same intense gaze from when we were kids. A deep look, full of confidence. Her mouth was open slightly, giving away her surprise. Her eyes weren't giving off any surprise. In fact, I was picking up a strange feeling while looking into them. It's the same feeling I had been getting the other day when my brothers and I arrived back in Townsville. Seeing the old skyscrapers, the old park, the old volcano. They brought to me…feelings. Feelings of…nostalgia…comfort…warmth…delight. Now all of those feelings were flowing into me from those pink eyes. Something else was there too. The kind of feeling you get…when you've come back home. To feel that way was so strange. So odd. Peculiar.

Unexpected.

Like in my other classes, the teacher pointed me out as a new student. Like in my other classes, all of the kids turned to look at me. This time Blossom was among them. She looked at me. I looked at her. My eyes were lowered a bit. Not in anger or challenge, more in a way of uncertainty. Her eyes were wide open. It was just like the last time I saw her. "_The last time_…"

My mind wondered away. Back to that word. That word I hadn't thought of in a long time. Even though I had come back to Townsville, even though I had gone back to the observatory on the volcano, even though Blossom had been on my mind so much lately, this was the first time in a long time I was reminded of that word. My face fell. I must of looked just the way she had seven years ago.

Then she smiled. Gave me a little nod, and turned back to the teacher.

This day has been so strange. There's really only one word I can think of to describe it.


	3. Butch's First Day

Man it felt good to get out of that stupid uniform. Freaking khaki pants and belt. What jackass decided that rich people have to wear such uncomfortable clothes? You'd think with all that money they just wouldn't give a crap and wear whatever. It was my last class of the day, the sweetness that is gym class. At least I don't have to wait till the very end of the day to get out of those stupid clothes. Brick was less excited about it. I was gonna wait for him but the guy was moving like a snail. I know we're made out of those, but still.

Our class headed to the outside basketball court. I decided to wow these pathetic little humans during the warm up exercises. Every shot perfectly sunk. Ball dribblin' so fast they couldn't even see it. Boomer's the only one who had to pay the full load to get into this school. Brick had his SAT scores or something like that, while I landed in with my amazing athletic abilities. The best part is that I got a much bigger scholarship than Brick, haha! These fat cats and their sports. I'm going to rule this sorry school in a month. Better yet, I'll aim for a week!

I got bored of showing off and went over to Brick. Dude was just leaning against the fence staring off into space. Probably won't move a damn muscle all year. After all he 'prefers games of the mind!' Pardon me mister highbrow. "Sucks that we have to wait all freaking day for this class, huh?" I asked, trying to make conversation. "Rest of the day is going to be pure torture, just counting the seconds."

Brick didn't say anything. Probably didn't even hear me. Christ this guy is such a downer these days. Been doin' nothin' but complaining since we got into Townsville yesterday. All freaked out about this stupid plan and how we have to do it perfectly. But you know, being here reminds me of the old days. Back when Brick was cool and the three of us just spent every day doing whatever we wanted. Stealing candy, wrecking buildings, trashing people's houses. Last few years it's like the guy's lost his soul.

"Hey Bro." I said and put a hand on his shoulder. "How about after school the three of us go check out some of the old hang outs? We can go chill up at the north bridge where we used to write graffiti all the time. Or pop into that grocery store we used to rob every week. The one owned by that guy who always screamed like little girl every time he saw us? Remember that guy?"

Still no freaking response. "Oh I've got it!" I said, snapping my fingers. "Let's go look for Fuzzy Lumpkins! We can tie em' up and break all his banjos while he watches. It'll be a riot!"

Brick walked over to the bleachers and sat down. You could say I was talking to a literal brick.

* * *

"Hey how about that one, the one with the long brown hair?" I pointed out. We were just sitting around now, watching the rest of the class play a pick-up game. Perfect time to check out the new playing field. My poor, poor brother wouldn't be in such a constant slump if he had some tail in his lap. Being the wonderful and amazing brother that I am, I decided I would find him some fun. Hopefully that would cheer the bastard up and we could go back to the awesome days.

Right now the whole idea was feeling kind of hopeless though. Brick was too busy staring at the sky and not at the hot chicks I was pointing out. What is it about the sky that's so damn fascinating? Both of them are always staring up there instead of doing anything fun. I looked over at the nearby baseball field. I could point out some of the hotties over there, but what good would that do. Maybe Boomer could help me figure out how to get Brick interested in some action. Seems like they've been on the same wavelength lately.

I spied something interesting and nudged my frigid brother. "Hey, look over there?"

"Over where?" He asked, finally saying something.

"Over to the right of the baseball field, on that hill where the tree line is. There's a girl up there. She looks like the one you were talking about at lunch."

Brick stood up and shaded his eyes with hand. "That is her." He said quietly.

"You really think she might be the Blue Puff? The one that was always happy and sweet, singing about love and all that crap?"

"Ehh, I'm still not sure. This has been one weird day." He said quietly.

"Hey I know a way we check right now." I grinned as I picked up a stray basketball.

Brick lowered his eyes at me. "Don't. You. Dare." He said slowly.

"What I won't throw it hard enough to kill her, just to injure her."

Brick called me some word I don't know and looked over at goth girl again.

"It'll be good for her." I said, spinning the ball on my finger. "These dark chicks are just upset because their lives are so boring. We give her a little excitement and she'll perk right up."

"Did you talk to Blossom at all in your Spanish class?" Brick asked, completely ignoring my idea.

"Of course not. After all, as Mom and Dad said over twenty million times, we're not supposed to give them any direct attention. Besides you're the one showing her up, not me."

"We can't, by the way."

"Can't what?"

"Can't go check on the old hang outs tonight."

I let out an annoyed groan. "Why not? I've been dying to."

Brick turned away from the goth girl and gave me a stern look. "As I've been saying all day, you've got a job to do. Find the Green Puff and get into the same sports teams."

"Ah but you see, I have a very awesome secret to tell you." I whipped my head back and forth, checked under the bleachers, and covered my mouth as I whispered the forbidden information. "It won't take me that long."

"Well here's an actual secret," Brick said as he covered his mouth, "we have to report to Mojo and Him at six o'clock."

"How long is that gonna take? The night is young."

"You know what a freak Mojo is about small details. And the night is not young. We have to get enough sleep and start studying. We can't crush the Puffs if you two get kicked out."

I let out a laugh. "Kick me out? They practically begged me to enroll here once they saw my basketball videos. Have you seen the size of the trophy case they got in the west building? I could skip every single one of my classes every day and they wouldn't so much as give me a detention. You know I get why all three of us didn't just come here as superstars."

"Would have attracted too much attention."

"Yeah, good attention." I tried to argue, but the final bell had rung.

"Go find her and get things started." Brick said as he left for the locker room.

"Yes my Lord and Master." I growled in scraggy voice.

* * *

"This is it?" I asked the basketball team manager. Some short kid with glasses named Keenan.

"Yeah that's the whole women's tennis team." He said.

"Are you sure that's all of them. Are any of the girls missing?"

"No. That's all of them."

What a freaking pain. I had checked every damn woman's sports team and Buttercup wasn't on a single one. I even checked the softball team. Hey wouldn't be that surprising if she turned out to be a dyke, right?

"No, no, no." I said as looked down at the little shrimp. "Someone has to be missing."

"No this is it," he said, looking a little scared. "I even got you that paper showing all the players on each team."

"Well I'm having a hard time believing this." I said, grating my teeth.

"I don't know what you want. Are you looking for a certain girl or something?" He asked.

You know what? Screw this subtlety thing. First we can't find the Blue Puff, and now I can't find Buttercup anywhere. I grabbed Keenan by his stupid shirt collar. "Where is Buttercup. The Powerpuff Girl? Where is she?"

"Buttercup? She…uh…she doesn't do any sports…"

"Oh yeah, that's a good one." I said, increasing my grip. "Miss Fighter Extraordinaire doesn't play on ANY of the school's sports teams."

"No! She doesn't! She spends all her time after school at the Blakely building."

"The Blakely Building?" I asked as I let go of him. "That's the science building."

"Uh…y-yeah. I uh, I got to go." He said as he scuttled off.

"_Alright that's it. I've had enough of this sleuthing crap_." I thought to myself as I hurried over to the Blakely building. That damn Brick. Thinks he knows everything and bosses me around with his stupid orders. And what do I get for it? A whole hour and half of my time wasted! "_I'm gonna march right up to her and find out what the hell she's doing. Screw mental tactics, screw Brick, screw Mom and Dad, and screw this stupid plan_!"

I got to the building and started looking around. Most of the rooms were dark. Figures not too many students would want to hang around on the first day. Should make this a bit easier. "_Aw hell, she might not even be here_." I thought. I peeked into a brightly lit lab. Just some teachers.

Freaking humans and their damn science. Have such weak little bodies that they have to build machines to do shit for them. Sure I was created by science, I guess, but it was Dad's magic that really gave me and my brothers an edge over those stupid Puffs. That's what these humans should be studying, magic. Open up a damn wizard college or something.

* * *

There she was. Sitting there in the next lab. Sitting at a table with some huge book open. Looked like she had about ten notebooks sprawled across the table. Wasting no time I opened the door, loudly. She looked up, surprised. A put on the nastiest grin I could manage. "Buttercup." I said as I walked over to her.

Slamming my hands down on the table, I looked right at her. "Yeah, it's me. You know it's me. You've known since you saw me in Tech Ed. Let's cut the crap, cause I've been running around outside all afternoon looking for your stupid ass. What the hell are you doing in here with a bunch of science garbage? Huh, HUH!"

Her face twisted in anger. Wow, it's been like what, seven years since I've seen that face. My heart started to beat really fast. Adrenaline pumped into my arms and legs. Some part of my brain woke up, cause seeing that face meant it was time for a fight! A real fight! She looked kind of different, but still the same. Eyes bent down at the same angle, the left side of her mouth revealing teeth while the right side stayed shut, and her nose getting all wrinkled. Ahh, just like to old days.

"Who the hell do you think you are!?" She yelled as she stood up. Her chair flew back and knocked down the table behind her. "You think you can just come back here after so long and start…"

Then something weird happened.

She tilted her head down a bit. Closed her eyes and started taking in deep breathes. I just watched. What the hell was she doing? She reached under the table and grabbed her backpack. Closed up her big book and stuffed it inside, followed by all the notebooks. Packed them all in there without even looking at me. Like I wasn't even there. God I hate when people do that.

Once everything was packed up she made her way to the door. Using super speed I blocked it. Glared down at her with my arms crossed. I hadn't really noticed it until now, but she was pretty short. Probably only a little over five feet tall. Figured she'd be taller, like me. I leaned in close. "What's wrong, you scared? Come on, you were the only one who could ever give me a decent fight. Did your balls fall off while I was gone?" Her body started to tense up. Buttercup could never handle trash talk. She was always the easiest to provoke, even easier than Brick.

Then another weird thing happened.

Without a word she dashed over to one of the windows. They weren't exactly big windows, but she opened one and managed to slip through it. I tried to grab her, but she was already through by the time I got across the room. Growling in anger, I flew through the door and down the hallways. Once I was outside I flew up into the air. I didn't give a crap if anyone saw me.

No freaking sign of her. She must of flown off. I cursed to myself and started flying home. Should have just broke the damn window. What the hell was going on with her? Doing science stuff, not giving in to my taunts, running from a fight?

Freakin' unexpected, that's for sure.

* * *

"You're late." Brick annoying voice filled my ears as I slammed open the door.

"Yeah well it took me all freaking day to find that stupid Buttercup." I said as I headed to the fridge. I needed a drink. "Where are the beers I put in here yesterday?"

"You're not drinking any beer on school nights." Brick said calmly.

"Man this is Bullshit!" I yelled.

"Did you find her?"

"Oh yeah I found her alright," I said as I lay down on the couch. "But you wanna know where she was? Huh, do ya?"

Brick just crossed his arms and scowled at me. God I am surrounded by such pricks. "She was in the Blakely building."

Brick raised an eyebrow. "What was she doing there?"

"Reading some science book." I said as I closed my eyes. All I wanted to do was drink, but since I couldn't now I just wanted to sleep.

"That's umm…" Brick began scratching his head.

"Yeah, I know." I replied. I looked over at Boomer who was reading some magazine in the corner. Not so much reading as just staring at it. "But enough about my crummy day, what you Boomer? Feels like you haven't said a damn thing all day. You find the Blue Puff?"

Boomer just kept staring off into space. "No…" He quietly said.

God what happened to the destruction filled little bastards I used to know?

Brick opened up his laptop and placed in on the table. "Alright I'm going to call them."

"Great." I said as I got up. "Just great."


	4. Boomer's First Day

Seven years, is that right? Man what a long time. Each day crawling by. For me it was. It all started on that day Mom and Dad had come up with a new plan. Each of us had to train so we could destroy the girls mentally, then finish them off physically. It made sense. After all, that's how the girls would always beat us.

I recall one time when we had stolen some really cool tanks. They belonged to that girl, Princess. I remember asking Brick if it was really a good idea, because then we'd have the girls and Princess trying to stop us. "See that's the beauty of it," he explained, "those stupid girls will end up arguing with each other cause Princess will want the tanks back. She'll stop the Powerpuffs from doing anything to us." Brick was exactly right. Princess was so busy stopping the girls from attacking our tanks that we spent hours tearing up Townsville. Seemed like it was a foolproof plan.

Then something bad happened.

Blossom flew right in front of Brick's tank. We all aimed our cannons at her. Brick had theorized that one of the girls would end up having to hold back Princess, meaning we'd only have to deal with two of them. With a three to two advantage we'd finally be able to destroy them. Then Blossom's voice came up on my monitor. "You guys have some pretty awesome tanks. But I'm wondering something, which one of you has the coolest tank?"

Butch immediately responded. "That's me, of course."

"No you don't," Brick piped in, "I picked the biggest, coolest looking tank. I could run yours over if I wanted to."

"Oh yeah!" Butch said. He was starting to get angry. "Mine has the most weapons! The only thing your tank can do better than mine is make a bigger explosion when I waste you!"

I was also starting to get angry. "Hey!" I yelled. "Do I just not exist or something?"

"Shut up Boomer!" Brick yelled to me. "Everyone knows you have the lamest tank!"

"Oh yeah!" I said as I took aim at him. "We'll see about that!"

I'm sure you can guess what happened after that. That happened when we were about seven. It was the first time the girls had turned us on each other like that, and definitely not the last. Thanks to Butch and Brick having such big tempers, the girls could always make us fight each other. Mom and Dad were aware of this, but they aren't exactly therapists. They'd just yell at us. Mostly at Brick and Butch. I've never had much of a temper. Yeah I know that example I gave isn't really backing up my claim, but as I got older I just lost interest in picking fights. I was even losing interest in causing any mayhem.

There was a reason for that. A reason that was secret. If my brothers or parents found out…man they would completely lose it. It was ironic that Mom and Dad wanted me to pretend to become friends with Bubbles. Kind of like the universe was messing with me or something.

I was already friends with Bubbles.

It wasn't pretend either. Very wrong of me to become friends with the enemy. Wrong of her too, and she's supposed to be one of the good ones. But…it felt right.

It happened the day after that episode when I got captured and Bubbles spent the day pretending to be me. My brothers had been giving me a ton of crap about it. They wouldn't stop laughing about how no one could tell the difference between me and Bubbles.

"Geez Boomer, you sure you wanted to get the same kind of clothes as before? Maybe you should start wearing dresses instead." Brick said and laughed as his stupid joke.

"Haha, yeah Boomer. We should try their plan out. You can pretend to be the Blue Puff. They won't doubt it for a second." Butch added in, laughing it up.

I gritted my teeth. My face was getting red from embarrassment and anger. I took a swing at Brick, who caught it with no trouble. "Whoa careful there," he said, "wouldn't want to chip a nail, now would you?"

They kept laughing like two stupid hyenas. I just flew off. Those jerks were always picking on me. I hated being the runt of the litter. There was no way I was ever going to live this down unless I did something extreme.

I started flying over to the mall. "_First I'm gonna get myself some new clothes_." I thought to myself._ "Some really cool clothes. Stuff they've never seen that will shut them up_. _Oh but wait_." I stopped in midair. "_We've been to the mall a ton of times. They already know all the clothes that sell there_." I took a minute to think about what to do. "_I know! I'll go to another city. Find a bunch of cool stuff there that makes me look like an awesome guy_. _They'll get jealous and I won't tell them where I got any of it_."

I took off and started following the highway. It was the most ingenious plan I had ever come up with. Actually I think it was the first plan I had ever come up with. It didn't take long to reach the next city. Err, technically it was town. The Town of Cityville, in fact. Pretty big place for a mere town.

I hovered around, scoping the place out. I found an outlet mall and landed in the middle of it. A bunch of people got scared when they saw me land. A few of them even screamed. Not that I cared at the moment. I was there to get some clothes. I wondered around looking for a promising store. I didn't know a thing about fashion so this was going to be a tricky mission. I eventually came across a bigger store that had pictures of skaters and snowboarders all over the windows. I grinned. This would be perfect. I could wear a bunch of awesome sports clothes and make my brothers look like wannabe punks.

It was a really cool store. Not only did they have a ton of clothes, but a lot of sports gear too. The walls were aligned with all kinds of snowboards, skateboards, roller skates, bicycles, surfboards, and all kinds of stuff. I made my way to where the skateboards were. They had so many awesome designs on the boards. One in particular that I liked had a flaming skull on it. "_That's what I should do_," I thought, "_I should go around Townsville on that skateboard. And I can wear cool clothes with skulls on them. Brick and Butch will be totally jealous and everyone will think I'm awesome_! _Like to see that girl pretend to be me then_!"

I went over to the left. Rows of T-shirts towered above me. Too bad most of them were way too big for me. I kept going, looking for small sizes. "_They better have something in my size_." I thought as I turned into another row. Then a new thought entered my mind. A thought I never expected to have.

"_Why is Bubbles here, looking at a pirate T-shirt_?"

She turned her head and saw me. She let out a little gasp and dropped the shirt she had been holding. "Uh…wha, wha, Boomer?" She managed to spit out.

"Bubbles?" I said in disbelief. "What, what are doing here? In this store?"

Man, how unexpected was this?

"I uh…ummm…uhhh…" She was looking all around. Looking at the rack of clothes to the left, the one to the right, the shirt she had dropped, the ceiling, and finally at me. "Do you promise not to tell anyone?"

"Uh sure. I mean who am I gonna tell?" I said, shrugging my shoulders. I just noticed that they'd been really tense.

"The thing is…." She started, "…a couple days ago when I had to pretend to be you and hang out with your brothers for the day…I had a lot of fun." She smiled and put her arms in the air for emphasis.

"_**You**_ had hanging out with my brothers?"

"I know it sounds crazy, but I really did! I thought it would be horrible, but doing all that boy stuff was really neat! I even got over my fear of bugs!" She was all wide eyed and smiling ear to ear while she told me this. I could feel her exuberance bouncing off the walls.

"But I thought girls hated all that stuff. Girls like dolls and ponies and clothes."

"That's why it's a secret Boomer. You really promise you won't tell anyone?"

I threw my arms in the air. "No I'm not gonna tell anybody. It's still pretty weird though. So what are you doing here? If you wear those clothes everybody will think you're crazy."

She reached down and picked up the pirate shirt. "Nobody will know it's me if I only wear them around here. And I won't use my powers so nobody will have any idea it's me."

"Oh ok. So Cityville will be like your secret hangout."

"Yeah just like that. But why did you come all the way over here?"

I felt the anger start to build up again. "My stupid brothers have been making fun of me because you tricked them. They keep saying I look so much like a girl that when a real girl replaces me they can't tell the difference. I came here to get some really cool clothes they've never seen before so they'll shut up."

"You know what, I noticed something when I was pretending to be you."

"What's that?"

"When Brick and Butch were being mean I would sort of challenge them. Like they asked me where the candy was, and I told them I ate it all and they would have to cut me open if they wanted it. They just laughed and we went off to have some fun."

I chuckled. "That's pretty funny."

"I bet if you stand up to them like that then you'll get along better."

I sighed. "Yeah I guess. It's just kind of…tough, you know?"

Bubbles had a big smile on her face. "You know Boomer, you're so much nicer than your brothers. If Brick or Butch saw me they would have attacked me."

I let another sigh. I didn't know if I should have been glad or upset that she said that.

"Let's go get something to eat." She said as she took my hand. "I think you and I have a lot in common. I'll tell you about what I do when my sisters are mean to me."

"Aw come on don't do that!" I said, trying to get out of her grip. She was right, even back then I was too nice.

* * *

It was the night before we moved. Well evening to be exact. As usual I flew over to Cityville to meet with Bubbles. We were planning to hit up the skate park. I didn't bring my board. Didn't fly very quickly either. It would have been so easy to just not go. It was all I had thought about ever since Mom and Dad told us we were going to move. Should I tell Bubbles I had to go, or just avoid her? In the end my instincts took me to Cityville.

It was Friday night so the skate park was rowdy. Fitting word there. Even with all the craziness, finding Bubbles was no problem. She always had the weirdest clothes on. Tonight she was wearing a bright green shirt with a nuclear explosion graphic. Her pants were hot pink and sparkled like crazy. Bubbles never cared about fashion. She just wore whatever she liked, no matter how strange it looked. I admired that. Even though this was her secret life of sorts, it was still the real Bubbles. The real Bubbles did her own thing.

I asked her if we could go somewhere private because I had something important to tell her. We flew to the coast and landed on a cliff by the ocean. Bubbles asked if everything was ok. I realized coming to the ocean was a bad idea. Looking out at the endless body of water…something about that just…it just makes me you feel things. Right now I was feeling upset, sad, and scared. "_Come on Boomer, you're supposed to be Cityville Boomer right now. Cityville Boomer has lots of courage, no matter what kind of scary things he faces_."

"I'm moving." I said with a little tremble in my voice.

"What?! Moving?" She asked in a surprised voice.

"Mojo and Him told us yesterday. They want to take us far away so they can train us." I said quietly. My heart was beating like crazy.

"Train you…to kill us…" Bubbles said sadly.

Neither of us spoke. Waves crashed against the rocks below. It's a peaceful, yet sad sound. Perfect for the situation I was in. I really didn't know what to say. My mind was blank. All I could hear were waves crashing. All I could see and smell was the ocean. All I could feel was my heart as it beat sadly.

"Don't go with them."

"Huh?" I let out. "But they-"

"No don't." Bubbles said, silencing me. "You don't have to. You can stay here. I'm sure there's a place somewhere you can stay. I'll help you find something. My dad and sisters can help!"

"But your-"

"They'll listen to me! Buttercup might be upset at first, but I know that Blossom and the Professor will believe me! They'll be really happy to see that you aren't evil. Then we won't have to fight anymore."

I looked over at her. She looked like she was going to cry. I hadn't seen her cry in forever. "_Can I really do this_?" I thought. "_Can I really say no to them…and stay here_?"

"Yeah…yeah you're right!" I said decisively. Bubbles expression immediately changed from sad to happy. I started punching my hand, something I did to give myself courage. "I don't have to do this anymore. Pretending to fight you all the time and hiding out here to have fun. It's time for Cityville Boomer to become the only Boomer!"

"Yes! That's wonderful!" Bubbles said as she hugged me. I hugged her back, feeling like a million bucks. "_I'm really gonna do it. I'm gonna change everything around_." I thought.

"I'll come over to your house tomorrow." I said once our embrace ended.

Bubbles clapped her hands together. "Yes! We can tell my family all about it! You won't have to worry about Mojo or Him or your brothers making you do anything bad anymore!"

It's a good thing everyone was already asleep when I got back to the volcano. I had the biggest smile on my face that just wouldn't go away. I silently floated into our room where I could hear Brick and Butch's snoring. I snuggled into my bed and let out a content sigh, and went to sleep almost right away.

I had a nightmare.

Everything was red. Huge cracks ran along the ground. Fire spewed out of them. People were screaming from every direction. I tried to look around. Houses. There were houses all around me. Some of them were crumbling, some were burning, and some were just holes in the ground. I turned around and saw Bubbles house. Fire was coming out of the windows. The ground began to shake, nearly throwing me off my feet.

I blew away the flames blocking the door and went inside. The four of them were there. Bubbles, Blossom, Buttercup, the Professor…all lying on the ground. Everything started shaking again. I covered my head and crouched down until the shaking stopped. When I moved my arms away the girls were gone. There was just a bunch of red smoke.

"Boomer…" I heard a voice call. Only one voice like that. Him's voice.

The red smoke took form, and there was Him, with a big grin on his face. "Oh Boomer…how could you ever turn on your own family like that?" Him said in his soft voice. "And fraternizing with our sworn enemies. Such a horrible thing to do. **AND THE LAST THING YOU'LL EVER DO**!"

Suddenly I felt myself getting sucked into something. I had no idea what, but I knew it was bad.

"Unbelievable." I looked up and saw my brothers. Brick was shaking his head. "You picked those stupid girls over us? Did you really think they were going to win this war?" He said with an evil grin. "Now you can die with them!"

The screams got muffled. The image of Him and my brothers got hazy. It all went black.

When I woke up I was trembling. My heart was beating faster than ever before. I was taking deep breaths, trying to calm down.

I slowly ate my pancakes. They tasted great, but my brain couldn't seem to register anything.

"Eat up everyone." Him said as he danced around the kitchen in an apron. "We've got a long way to go and I hate having to make pit stops."

"There won't be any pit stops." Mojo said between mouthfuls. "My airship has more than enough food and a bathroom on it. Stopping would make no sense; everything needed is on the airship; no stopping will be necessary for food or bathrooms; if we did stop it would have to be for a senseless reason that makes no sense, for I had the sense to include-"

"Uh, Mom." Brick said, tapping Mojo's shoulder. "Could you be a little clearer? You're not making any sense."

Butch started to laugh, spraying orange juice on the table.

"All right we have eaten enough." Mojo said as he got up from the table. "Let's start moving the last of the cargo onto the airship. I want to get there before nightfall."

Brick and Butch flew off in the blink of an eye. Mojo turned around and looked at me. "Boomer? Boomer we have to go now."

"Huh?" I said, looking around.

"Wakey wakey, Boomer honey." Him said as he began clearing the table. "It's almost time to go."

"Oh uh…right." I said, flying out of the room.

It didn't take us long to pack in the rest of our stuff. It was weird seeing our house so empty. No furniture, no machinery, no weapons all over the walls. I made my way outside to the docking bay Mojo had set up. Looking around I could see almost all of Townsville.

"That's the last of it, we can finally depart." Mojo said, heading into the ship.

Over there was the junkyard where the Gangreen Gang always hung out.

Brick entered after Mojo. "You better have had the sense to put a TV in this thing. I'm not listening to you talk about nothing the whole way." He said.

Over there was that grocery store we terrorized every week.

Butch entered next. "I'm just going back to sleep. Best way to travel." He said.

Over there was the suburb where…

"Boomer, it's time to get on the ship." Him said.

I looked over at Him, who had a big smile on his face. Then over at the airship.

Him motioned with his claw. "Come on now, we don't want mommy to be angry."

I looked back at the suburb one more time. Looked at the ship, and got on it.

* * *

Now we're back in Townsville. Time to face the music. Time to go to school. A private school, now there's something new. I felt so out of place at this school. There was so much space, but so few people. The public schools we had gone to were crammed with kids. Every day you'd see a new face in the flooded hallways. I wondered if Butch would be able to stay under control. So many times we had to move because he would either break something or attack some kid who pissed him off. At first Brick was just as bad. After a few years he found more delight in playing head games rather than bashing in heads.

My classes weren't exactly the high end kind. My first two classes were filled with more sophomores than juniors. That was fine with me. I talked with a few people. Had to be friendly after all. Hard to be cheerful though when you're dreading the near future so much. I didn't know what I was going to do when I ran into one of the girls. There was always a chance I could share a class with Blossom, or more likely Buttercup. What were they going to do? Did they know about me? Did Bubbles ever tell them…

That's what really scared me. Having to see Bubbles again. Running off and leaving her. Abandoning is more like it. I had dreaded this day for so long and now it was here.

I let out a large breath. Trying to calm myself down as much as possible. There I was in my third class. A history class, something basic called World History. Soon I could go get lunch with Brick and Butch. I wondered if they'd had any classes with the girls. I was sure Brick has run into Blossom already. He's taking almost nothing but AP classes. Outside the window I could see some tennis courts. I thought about getting involved in some kind of sport. I was going to need to unwind.

There she was! It was Blossom! I looked down at my textbook. Tried to keep my face straight. It was her, and she wasn't alone. The girl she was talking to, that girl had black hair and green eyes. It must have been Buttercup. They were both in my class! I peeked over and saw them sit down over on the left, near the front of the class. I was towards the right, in the middle. I focused all my energy into remaining calm. Had they recognized me? Even if they hadn't, it was only a matter of time until they did.

The teacher pointed me out once the class started. We are using fake names, so he introduced me as Matthew. I smiled and looked at everyone. Tried my best not to make eye contact with Blossom or Buttercup. Once class was over I left quickly and briskly made my way down the hall. Ugh, I feel like such a coward. Bubbles used to be my only real friend and now I'm scared to death of talking to her. My next class is Tech Ed, whatever that is. I'll probably get there first. Too bad I don't have any classes with my brothers in the morning. I could use a little moral support.

The Tech building is pretty big. Here's hoping I can have some fun in this class. I'm going to need it after having a class with two of the girls. It's funny, yesterday I was considering dying my hair. Anything so that the girls wouldn't recognize me. Really though it would just be a waste, sooner or later they-

Oh…it's Bubbles.

There she is, sitting right there. Only she would wear a crazy purple skirt like that. You know I can't believe how calm I am right now. This must be what frozen in fear is. I thought there'd be actual fear. I guess the frozen part-

There's the fear. She's looking at me. I can't move. I can't speak. She turns away. Now I can move again. It's like she just released me from a spell. Alright, time to gather up any and all courage. I sit down next to her. She's in the way back. She doesn't say anything. She doesn't move. She just stares down at the table. Staring into nothing. I try to say something.

"B-bubbles…it's…uh"

"Boomer, you're back." She says to me.

"Uh, yes. Got here yester-uh, yesterday."

"Are all of you back?"

"Uh n-no. It's just um…me and my…brothers."

"Oh."

Silence. Other students are coming into the class. Some of them are looking over at us and whispering. My mind barely registers them. I look at Bubbles. She isn't talking, or looking at anything, or moving at all. I used to feel a certain energy from her, but now there's nothing. It's like I'm sitting next to a statue.

The teacher comes in and class begins. He spends some time introducing the course. Bubbles still hasn't moved. He then tells us to pick out any station we want. Bubbles finally moves. She gets up, and without a word, walks outside. I watch her go sit under a tree and take out a book.

"Hey new kid, want a word of advice?" A voice says from behind me.

I turn around and see a slightly taller guy with blonde hair. "You're wasting your time with her. She never talks to anybody."

"What's uh going on with her?" I ask, looking back at Bubbles under the tree.

"Believe it or not, she's one of the Powerpuff Girls. Or used to be. She doesn't do the whole super hero thing anymore. None of the teachers even try to mess with her so she just does whatever she wants. She pretty much just sits around and reads."

"She's one of the Powerpuffs?" I asked, trying my best to sound surprised. "What did, I mean why is she-"

"Nobody knows. Back in Middle School she just…changed. Started wearing weird clothes and stopped talking."

"What uh, what could have done that?"

"Well I never knew her personally. You'll hear plenty of rumors about her, but her sisters are probably the only ones who really know anything. But anyway, are you brothers with Scott? He's in my AP Calculus class and-"

I couldn't hear what this guy was saying anymore. Bubbles had…she had…she had lost it or something.

Was it because of me?

* * *

"If she's in one of the public schools you'll transfer over." Brick explained. I wasn't really paying attention. "It won't take me long to check tomorrow. Hey Boomer."

"Huh, what is it?" Shoot I'm zoning out again. Can't even read this magazine.

"What's with you? You've been really out of it today."

"Oh it's…it's just…being back here is kind of weird."

"Yeah I feel ya. In a few days we'll go look around. Check out some of the old areas and see if any of the old rouges gallery is still in town. It'll make us feel better. Now if you transfer, you're going to have to…"

I'm not scared anymore. Now I'm worried. I need to find Bubbles and talk to her. Really talk to her. Find out what's made her this way. And if it's me…then…I'll have to figure out how to fix this. I don't have a ton of time. Him, Mojo, and my brothers are getting ready to kill the girls. I've got to figure out a way to stop them, on top of all of this.

Man, I sure miss when life was simple.


	5. Brick's Week

"You see anything yet?" I asked from behind the TV.

"Nope nothin' yet." Butch responded. "Why didn't you set this up yesterday?"

"I didn't have any time yesterday." I said as I switched around a few cords. It's funny, when it comes to more advanced systems I have no problem, but simple stuff like this tends to trip me up.

"Ok it's showing up now." Butch told me.

I crawled out from behind the television and brushed some stray dust off my shirt. It was a pretty good TV, a big one. Mojo and Him had set us up in a fully furnished apartment flat on the richer side of Townsville. Life isn't too bad when you can rob banks with practically no effort. I guess when your basic necessities like food and shelter are taken care of, it gives you more time to think about your other needs. Scary needs, like the need to find purpose in life.

"Alright let me just send out the call." I said as I walked over to my laptop. I saw that Butch was shuffling a deck of cards. "Put those away, this isn't a casino."

"You're not a casino." He said as he dropped them onto the table. I could hear Boomer trying to hold back his laughter.

I sent out the call and we waited for a minute. Mojo and Him soon appeared on the TV screen.

"My babies!" Him said as he put his whole face into the camera. "Are my boys doing ok all by themselves?"

"Stop hogging the camera!" Mojo yelled, pushing Him out of the way. "Boys, have you intersected with the Powerpuff Girls yet?"

"Mojo, the boys just got there and are probably all scared. Try to have a heart." I heard Him complain off camera. I rolled my eyes. Him floated over and we could see both of our parents on the screen.

Mojo glared at Him. "Oh yes, you're one to talk about having a heart! You're an unholy demon from the darkest depths of the netherworld!"

"Well you've got me on that one." Him said with a grin, which only made Mojo angrier. "So tell us boys, how are you settling in?"

"So far everything is in order." I reported. "We're at the apartment and everything is here. We went to the school today and had no problems."

"Good, good." Mojo said with a dark smile. "And what of the Powerpuff Girls? Did you see them?"

"We saw two of em'," Butch chimed in, "no sign of the blue one yet.

"Hmm…that's strange." Mojo said as he stroked his chin. "But you saw the other two?"

"Yes we saw them," I said, "just brief glimpses. We're still sizing up the situation."

Mojo clapped his hands together. "Good! Make sure you retrieve as much information as you can. Information is power, and power is what we will use to crush those Powerpuff Girls. Power gained from observing the girls to find out what they value most, which is a kind of power in its own right. They will expect you to use your superpowers, but this time it shall be your mind power that crushes them by turning their own power against them to-."

"How are you doing Boomer? We haven't heard a peep out of you." Him asked, interrupting Mojo.

"Huh?" Boomer woke up from whatever day dream he was having. "Oh, uh…yeah I'm doing fine. I still have to find Bubbles."

"Well I'm sure it won't take long at all." Him said with a smile. "Now if you'll excuse us, mommy and daddy have lots of work to do on the new weapon."

"_Yes, weapons_." I thought to myself.

"We will call again next week for an update. Good luck!" And with that, the two disappeared.

* * *

"So that is her!" Butch said with excitement. It was the next day and we were in gym class again. I'd asked around and as hard as it was to believe, the blonde, goth-looking girl was in fact Bubbles.

"You really couldn't get a word out of her?" Butch asked.

I lied back on the soft grass. "I couldn't even get her to look at me. I have no idea how Boomer's gonna be able to talk to her."

"Yeah he wasn't exactly trained in the way of the goth."

"He might not even need to do anything, because she doesn't even bother to protect Townsville anymore."

"Oh that's not true at all! She could be the deciding factor once we start our attack."

"What do you mean?"

"See she's a wildcard right now. The thing about wildcards is, you never know which way they'll fall. It's a pretty big gamble, and I know how much you hate that."

He's right, I do hate gambling. Why Butch is so fascinated with it, I'll never know. We can't take any chances like that if we're going to win this war. Butch started walking over towards the Blue Puff.

"What are you doing?" I asked, following him.

"I've got an idea on how to crack her open."

"Butch you-"

"I don't mean literately. I've just got a little experiment I want to try out. See if all my trashy TV shows have taught me anything."

"Fine, as long as you don't tell her exactly why we're here. I guess we don't have a whole lot to lose with her."

"Yeah now you're gettin' it."

We stopped once we got over to the tree. She was lying under it on her back, in the shade, eyes closed. Today she was wearing a black skirt, but her shirt was long sleeved with blue and white stripes. This girl had some strange fashion sense. At least the blue made her look familiar.

Butch walked right up to her and looked down. "Listen up Powerpuff!" He said. "It's us, The Rowdyruff Boys, your sworn enemies, and we're back! We know it's you Bubbles, you can't trick us. You better start runnin' if you know what's good for you, cause me and Brick are bad news, baby. You don't want to know what we're thinking about doing to you right now."

Bubbles didn't move. She hadn't even flinched during Butch's stupid little boast. If I didn't know better I'd say we were trying to threaten a dead body. Butch crossed his arms and started tapping his foot. This girl was more out of it than I thought. So far all she had done in our government class was read books. Boomer told us that during Tech Ed she would come out and sit under this tree, just like she was doing now. I suppose none of these humans would dare tell a mighty Powerpuff Girl what to do. Though I have to wonder, why do her sisters allow this? Have they disowned her or something?

Butch was now floating over Bubbles, no doubt with another brilliant idea. "Ah, but there's something different about us now." He said. "Something you three girls could never have expected! For you see…The Rowdyruff Boys…have become…" Butch snapped his arms out, causing the wind to kick up some stray leaves. "VAMPIRES!"

"Oh god," I said as I face palmed.

"And we didn't come back to kill you, oh no. We came here to turn you three into our eternal love slaves! And there's nothin' you can do to stop us!"

She started laughing.

Now there was something unexpected. It wasn't a big laugh, more like amused giggling. She had a little smile on her face. Now that looked like the Blue Puff I remember. Butch looked rather proud of the display he had created.

She opened her eyes and looked at us. "Then how come you guys were just in the sunlight?"

Butch landed back on his feet. "Oh yes, very observant of you. But you see, we are not the old kind of vampires, we're the new age kind. The sun doesn't hurt us."

She slowly sat up. "Then why aren't you sparkling?"

Butch opened his mouth and held a finger up. No words came out. "Dammit!" He muttered under his breath after a few seconds. "I forgot about that."

"That's ok," she said with another giggle, "I don't like vampires." She slowly began floating off towards the tree line.

"Hey where you goin'?" Butch asked.

"I'm leaving now." She said matter-o-factly as she floated away.

"What's the rush?" Butch asked. "It's been seven years, how bout we catch up a little?"

"Go talk to Blossom if you want to play catch up." She said as she got to the tree line. She stopped and looked back at us. "Oh and…it's good to see you guys again." Then she disappeared into the trees.

"Well that was something." I said, crossing my arms.

"See I totally knew that would work." Butch replied. "These goth girls just want some excitement. All you got to do is rock the boat a little and they'll fall into your arms."

"She wasn't excited, Butch. She was laughing at how stupid you are."

"Well that's just your opinion." Butch said as he sat down. "But did you hear that, she said Blossom would play catch up. You gonna try that out?"

I sat down and looked at the sky. "I already have something planned for Blossom. There's a paper due next week and we have to read it to the class. I'll write something so good it will blow hers out of the water. Hopefully that will get on her nerves."

"Hopefully?"

I let out a sigh. "Things are…not exactly how I expected them to be."

"Oh you're upset? Look at what I've got to deal with. Buttercup doesn't fight or do any sports or anything. She's some kind of freaking egghead scientist. What am I supposed to do now, magically become a rocket scientist and get to the moon before she does?"

"Don't give up yet. You did just make the Blue Puff laugh, after all."

"Yeah I am pretty amazing."

"The Green Puff must have another side we haven't seen yet. Why don't I try talking with her tomorrow?"

"You want us to start switching targets now? That goes against the ever so holy plan. How very unlike you, dear brother."

"I'll do whatever's necessary if it gets the ball rolling."

"That's what she said."

"Shut up."

* * *

"That's not going to work." I said from behind Buttercup's back. She turned her head just enough to give me an annoyed look, then went back to her calculations. I never thought I'd be trying to chat up the Green Puff, but it seems life can be filled with such unexpected moments.

"You've got a little problem in step five." I said. "The claw will end up going too far to the left."

"What are _you_ doing over here?" She asked without turning around.

"What are _you_ doing over here?" I repeated back.

"I'm trying to get my work done. I can figure it out myself, so go back to your brother."

"_Ok try not to be mean_," I thought to myself, "_she won't cough up any information if she's pissed off_."

I sat down in the empty chair beside her. "I never expected to see you interested in robotics. I was expecting Blossom to be the one in my science class."

"Well people do change. Seven years is a long time you know."

"Your other sister definitely changed."

I heard her give out a sigh. "That's a long story." She said sadly. "And anyway, it's none of your business. Bubbles wants to be left alone…so just leave her alone, ok."

"I wanted to ask because I've been hearing a lot of rumors. This morning someone told me that, a few years ago, she attacked some of the other cities around here. Seems pretty farfetched to me, but I suppose it's possible. For all I know, she could have gone nuts and attacked a bunch of people."

"You're right."

"What?"

"I did mess up step five."

"Hey, don't try changing the subject."

Buttercup put her pen down and looked over at me. "Blossom's been talking about you."

Oh Christ, that was not what I needed to hear. I tensed up. I put my elbows on the table and put my hands near my mouth. It's something I do when I get uncomfortable.

Buttercup turned her chair so that she was facing me. "You must of made some kind of impression, because she's really happy that you're here."

I stared down at my knuckles. This was just great. Buttercup had completely turned the tide. Dozens of questions were bouncing around my head. Why was she happy? What was she saying about me? That smile she gave me the other day, what was that for? Did she feel the same way I did when our eyes met? Was she wondering where I had been for the last seven years? What about all that time we spent as kids trying to kill each other? And the biggest one on my mind, why is she taking so many basic classes?

"She's in my English class." I said, trying to keep my cool. "But I'm curious…how come she isn't in any of my other AP classes? I was expecting her to be taking a lot of them."

Buttercup gave me a coy smile. "I don't know. You'll have to ask her yourself."

I wasn't going to let this get to me. One thing I've learned about life is to never take anything at face value. Who's to say Buttercup was telling me the truth? She could just be trying to mess with me, maybe to judge my reaction to this information. Butch said something yesterday about a card falling different ways, or whatever. I'm can't be sure that the Puffs aren't planning something of their own. They are an astute trio. I should know, it's why they always beat us in fights when we were kids. If this was some kind of ploy to throw me off, it wasn't going to work.

"Well none the less, you're right about it being none of my business." I said, trying to feign my disinterest as I got up. "It's merely unexpected considering she was such a brainiac back in the day, always bragging about her intelligence and she loved to flaunt it whenever we got in any kind of argument, if we managed to get some words in before we had a rumble over some robbery or whatever kind of illegal activity I'd be up to causing her to rush in and…"

I noticed that I'd been talking a bit too fast. Not to mention a bit too much. I inwardly cursed and told myself to get a grip. Buttercup was giving me the same curious look from the first day, only this time she looked like she was about to laugh.

I turned away to avoid further embarrassment. "I'm glad to see you've taken up an interest in science. I wish I could say the same for my brother, but he's still the same muscle headed idiot from before." I said as I started back to the engine area.

"Speaking of your brother," Buttercup called after me, "could you ask him to come over here for just a second?"

I walked over to Butch who was tinkering around with some kind of an engine. "Just got done talking with her." I reported.

"Yeah, so what did the midget have to say?" He asked.

"Well she did mention that she wanted to speak with you, if you would go over to her station."

Butch lifted his head up. "YOU CAN TELL BUTTERCUP," he said in an unnecessarily loud voice, "THAT I DON'T TALK…TO LITTLE…**PUSSIES**." He put a good amount of emphasis on that last word.

I glanced over at Buttercup. She had that angry face of hers on, where half her teeth are showing. Now that looked like the Green Puff I remember.

* * *

"Boomer. Hey Boomer, you don't mix those two chemicals, you mix these two." I said to my dazed brother.

"Oh uh…right." He said.

We were in our photography class. I like having this and gym as my last classes for the day. I feel at home in the dark room. Must be all the red. It's a great way to unwind after all the days stress. At least it would be if Boomer would pay attention to what he's doing for more than three seconds.

"You ok?" I asked. "You've been out of it since we got here."

"I've just been thinking about Bubbles." He said quietly.

"Sure is weird, isn't it? To think that she, of all people, would become so isolated. You gonna be able to find out what made her that way."

"I will find out." Boomer said with a healthy amount of determination in his voice.

"Excellent, that's what I like to hear. I'm thinking about changing the plan up a bit."

"_You _want to mess with the plan?"

"It's a good change, trust me. Since the Puffs…aren't exactly what we expected them to be, I'm thinking we may need to share targets."

Boomer let out a little laugh. "Oh really! You…you want to do that?"

"Yes, and you've got both Blossom and Buttercup in one of your classes. So feel free to try and strike up some conversations with them. We need to get more information on what they're doing and what they're into. No doubt they'll be more comfortable around you than me or Butch."

Boomer let out another little laugh. "Yeah, they uh…might be."

* * *

AN: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. Here's hoping I can keep messing with your expectations.

I was just thinking about how lots of writers like to have imaginary conversations with the characters down here. I find that so annoying.


	6. Butch's Week

The TV glared at me, but I wasn't looking back. Nothin' good was on, yet I just couldn't bring myself to turn it off. Damn I was bored. What I would have done to have just one other person to play some poker with. Instead all I could do was lay around and stare at nothing. Very dangerous thing to do you know. I could start turning into Brick or Boomer.

Speaking of which, my phone went off. "_Going to be here till closing. Get your own dinner_" The text read. I let out a little cheer and jumped up from the couch. Finally a chance to go out and do something! I went down the hall and opened Boomer's door. "Hey guess what, we can finally go hit up Townsville." I said happily.

"Don't you ever knock?" He asked me from the corner. He was messing around with something inside his backpack.

"Why you got somethin' to hide?" I asked. "Don't you usually put your pajamas on by now?"

"I uh, didn't get a chance yet." He said as he closed up his pack.

"Boomer," I said, squatting down next to him, "You weren't gonna go out and have fun without _me_, were you?"

Boomer was quiet for a moment. "Well maybe I was." He said mockingly.

I clutched my chest and fell back onto the floor. "Why Boomer? How could you betray me so? I think…I'm going…to die…"

I looked up at him. Rather than laughing like he should have been, Boomer looked kind of…bummed out. I figured this place wasn't bringing back the best of memories for him.

"Alright look," I started as I stood up, "I know we used to give you a ton of crap back when we were kids, but those days are gone now. Now we're bros all the way and we can go do anything we want. So come on, let's go see how things are."

"We can't go out," Boomer said as he came out of his little sad trance, "Brick will kill us."

"Bricky's gonna be at the library for another four hours. We got plenty of time to go mess around a little."

"I've got some school work to-"

I grabbed his arm and pulled him out the window. "We could go steal enough money to buy that stupid school. " I said as we started flying up. "The last think we need to worry about is being good students. That's for Brick to worry about."

The sun was just beginning to set. Below us the little humans were scurrying about in their cars. Not too much has changed since we'd been gone. I recognized what street we were flying over. I looked to the left and saw the mayor's office. Ahhh…the good times we used to have there. My mind was already scanning the area looking for good targets. It almost felt like we hadn't left. Like the last seven years had not even happened. Instead of moving away in an airship we were just having another fun filled day and lookin' for trouble.

"Hey let's go check out the junkyard." Boomer asked me from behind.

"Yeah ok, but let me just take a peek at the north bridge first."

I zoomed off to the north. There it was, the old bridge we used to hang out under. "Well it's the same bridge," I said as I landed, "but wow, it's so clean. Not a single bit of graffiti."

"Not just the bridge." Boomer said as he landed next to me. "The whole place is cleaned up."

The north part of Townsville had always been the ghetto part. Lot of crooks would hole up in one of the slums when they weren't doin' time. This bridge was like the message board for the criminal population. Guys were always writing stuff about how they were gonna take down the Puffs and completely own the city. I always loved coming here and givin' those wannabes some responses, like "Ruffs will rule you fool," or "The Rowdyruff Boys own this city, and that includes you."

But now the whole place looked…friendly. The trash had been cleaned up, flowers were planted along the edges, water was clean, and there was no graffiti anywhere. I flew up a bit to get a better look at the area. This place wasn't a slum pit anymore. I mean it didn't look like a place where you'd find yuppies, but it didn't look like you'd find criminals around either. There was one building that caught my eye. It said BU on it and looked somewhat out of place. It sure as hell hadn't been here when we were stomping around. I started floating over towards it.

"Butch!" I heard Boomer yell out.

I turned around. "What, what's up?" I asked.

"Um…why don't we uh…why don't we go down to the junkyard."

"Yeah sure, let me just see what this company is." I said as I headed off.

Boomer flew up in front of me. "It's probably nothing. Let's go see some stuff before it gets dark."

I gently pushed him out of the way. "I'll only take a minute. I just want to know what's been goin' on here."

"Uh…this is lame." Boomer said as he followed me. "I thought we were gonna do cool stuff."

"Wait, shhh." I said, putting my arm out. "You hear that?"

"No." He said quickly.

I silently hovered along the building until I got to the corner. I peeked around the back. It was the Puffs! Two of em', pinky and greeny. I grinned and started rubbing my fist.

Boomer pulled me away before I could jump out. "I know what you're gonna do," He whispered, "and we're not supposed to! We're not suppose to fight them unless they try and start something."

"I'll just say they started it." I said as I tried to get him off me. The little bugger wouldn't let me go.

"Mom and Dad will kill you if you wreck everything!"

"Well Mom and Dad aren't here." I said as I finally got him off my sleeve. "And how am I supposed to crush Buttercup's spirit if I can't fight her." I looked around the corner again. "I wasn't buyin' this whole science thing. I know if I just give her a push, she'll throw down the gauntlet like old times. "Are you gonna help me or not?" I asked.

I looked over. Boomer was gone.

"_Fine, I bet I can even take on all three of them by myself_." I thought as I walked into view. "Evening ladies." I said. They both turned towards me.

"YOU?" Buttercup yelled. Her eyes were wide with surprise.

Blossom looked just as shocked. "Why, why are you here?"

"I'm back now, remember?" I said while I walked around. "This place used to be my hang out. But man, if you showed me a picture, I'd say this place was from another city."

I looked over. The two of them were whispering about something. I started cracking my knuckles. That got Buttercup's attention.

Blossom put a hand on Buttercup's shoulder. "I can handle him. You go back home, ok?"

Buttercup let out a deep breath. She must have been holdin' it in for a while. She said ok and started flying away.

"You're not gettin' away this time, shorty!" I yelled as I started flying after her. Blossom appeared out of nowhere and blocked my path. "Buzz off Pinky," I said smoothly, "I don't have any business with you."

"If you're going to cause trouble, then you do have business with me." She shot back.

Boy did that sound familiar. She was in the same pose, hands on her hips with her eyes lowered. Same tone of voice, same stupid line, same arrogant look on her face. I didn't get what Brick was talking about when he said things were different with Blossom. She was looking like the same annoying, stuck-up, pain in the ass she had always been.

She let out a sigh. "Look, just listen for second." She said as she relaxed her face and let her arms fall to her sides. Well…this was different.

"I don't know where you guys have been for the last seven years, and I don't know why you've come back here, and I don't know where Mojo and Him are, and I don't know what you've been doing since we last saw you…" She stopped to take a breath. "…but you guys haven't done anything bad since you've come back, and I don't want any of you to start doing bad things. So please Butch, if you want to look around that's fine, but don't start picking fights."

My, my, this was very different. Did the great and mighty Blossom just _ask_ me to do something? All I remember her ever doing was barking orders at everyone like an old, catholic school teacher. And I have to admit, a small part of me felt something. Something that said, "Hey, maybe I should back off. The chick doesn't want to fight right now."

Too bad for her, it was just a small part of me.

With a grin, I shot my laser beams at one of the nearby houses. The pathetic building gave out a small explosion, the wall now gone. "How about now, La Chica Superpoderosa?" I didn't wait for a response, shooting up into the air.

I didn't get too far. She grabbed me from behind and tried to put me in an arm lock. I have to give it to her, the girl is fast. I snapped my head back, trying to hit her in the face. To my surprise, she put her arms up in time to block the blow. Either way, I was free now.

I juiced it and headed for the woods. I was in the mood for fight, and I didn't need my opponent freaking out about the safety of some worthless humans. Sure it would be easy to throw a few cars around and attack her while she scrambled about, but where's the challenge in that?

"_Ok Pinky_," I thought to myself as I reached down for the top of a pine tree, "_let's see what you've got_." With a tiny pull I brought the whole tree up over my head. Turning around, I swung at the Puff like a baseball player. Blossom let out a little yell as she flew away, just avoided my attack.

BAM! BAM! My tree continued to slam into the ground. She's fast alright. Just when I thought I had her, she'd dodge to the side. Then instead of hearing my tree hit the ground, I heard a snap. Stupid thing had reached its limit already. I took a split second to look around for a better tree. It was a bad idea. Blossom launched an uppercut to my chin.

It hurt only a little bit. I already guessed her scrawny arms didn't have much punch to them. I decided to give her a taste of a real punch and skyrocketed towards her. She tried to move, but I landed a blow right in her gut. Pinky fell to the ground, leaving a nice little crater. I landed down near her while she got up. It looked like I had knocked the wind out of her. Now it was time to see if she could handle some close range combat. I ran in with a left kick. Blocked. Right kick. Blocked. Another left kick. Blocked.

Block, block, block. Everything got blocked. But she wasn't trying to counterattack. I think she knew she didn't have the muscle to do any real damage to me. Too bad for her I had started going in a pattern. You see, there's a lot of mental work in fighting. For instance, right now I was doing the same four moves over and over again so that her brain would get used to the pattern. When I went in for a leg sweep, she was too busy expecting another punch to avoid it. Then I sent out a punch right for her face.

I screamed and jumped back. Man that burned! She had hit my fist with her eye lasers. I blew on my poor fist, trying to make the pain go away.

"Hold on for a minute." She yelled.

I started rubbing my fist and looked at her. "Hold on? Why?" I asked.

"This is pointless, you didn't come out here to fight me." She said.

"Hey I just wanted a fight, period. And since you're the only one who still fights apparently…" I said as I got back into a stance.

"Well I'm not interested in fighting anymore either." Blossom replied, turning her back.

"What? So you're just gonna quit?" I said, dropping my stance. "All of you just quit? How does that happen?"

She started walking back towards Townsville. "There isn't much fighting to do around here anyway."

I started following her through the forest. "There must be giant monsters comin' around sometimes."

"Not anymore."

"Well what about all the other villains? Sure none of those chumps can put up a fight like us, but I bet they keep hopelessly trying."

"I found a new way to deal with them."

"New way? What new way?"

She turned around and looked at me. "Hey, can I ask you for a favor?"

I crossed my arms and eyed her suspiciously. "A favor?"

"Yeah," She said, taking a small card from her pocket and handing it to me. In big letters it said 'Better Understanding: A Guide to Your Happy Future.' I raised an eyebrow, unsure of what to make of it.

"Tomorrow after school, I'd like you to come to that building where you saw Buttercup and I." She said, hovering in the air.

"What for?" I asked.

"You'll find out if you come." She said, and flew off.

Well that was unexpected.

* * *

"_Ugh, this is so stupid_." I thought to myself. I'm referring to myself entering the BU building, not the actual building. No, the building itself is rather nice. Very clean, a high end computer at the reception, and lots of…vegetables? Yeah that's right, there's vegetables growing near the walls.

"Wondering about those, aren't ya?" There was Blossom. "Did you know that looking at vegetables reduces stress, and the more different kinds there are the less stress you feel?"

"Mmm fascinating." I say as I yawn.

Blossom only laughed. "Come on into this room. We're going to start in about ten minutes."

I sigh and follow her. I don't know why I've come here. Boredom, curiosity? Must be both. At least Brick will be happy that I'm helping with the stupid plan, even though Blossom is supposed to be his target. In fact, I've gained ground on every Puff except for Buttercup. Doin' all the damn work myself around here. My pitiful brothers haven't even thanked me yet. Being this amazing is really a curse.

Blossom drops me off in some room. No vegetables in here, just a bunch of weird looking paintings. Chairs are in a big circle with a handful of people already in 'em. I sit down next to some red haired girl. I tried to make Brick go to this stupid thing but he was all like "I've got a stupid essay to write and since I'm such an idiot I have to spend all day working on it." Don't know where the hell Boomer is. Guy just up and disappeared after school.

I look over at the girl next to me. She's got freckles on her face. "Have I seen you somewhere before?" I ask her.

"Of course you have." She says in a stuffy voice. "I am Princess Morbucks. You've seen me on billboards all throughout Townsville."

"Oh you're that ugly rich girl who used to always bug us."

"What! Who do you think you are? I can have you everyone you care about destroyed!"

I lean over and look down at her. She must be as short as Buttercup. "Does the name Rowdyruff ring any bells?"

"You!" she says in surprise.

I smile and cross my arms. "That's right, we're back to-"

The little weirdo jumps onto her chair and grabs my collar. "How could you leave like that? When you guys left it was over!"

"Princess, please!" I hear Blossom from the doorway. Princess lets go of me and sits back down. Did she just take an order from a Powerpuff?

Blossom walks over to the empty chair across from me. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce our guest for this session." She holds her hand out towards me. "This is Butch, and I'm hoping that he'll want to join for more sessions after today."

The rest of the people in the circle all give me half-hearted greetings. Blossom then starts up again. "You see Butch, Better Understandings is a form of rehabilitation I've developed to help people who are struggling with their lives."

Oh great. The Pink Puff brought me to a damn therapy session.

We went around the room doing that stupid thing where you tell your name and crap. Blossom left me for last. "The name is Butch. I come from a long line of cross-dressing demons and crazy monkeys who try to take over the world."

"Yes um, thank you Butch." Blossom says. Obviously that's not what she wanted me to say. "Now tell me Butch, what is it that you're good at?"

There's a lot of things I could say to that. So many wonderful things that would no doubt make the Pink Puff turn as red as Brick's hat. But you know what, it's his job to piss her off. "I happen to be a champion of poker." I say.

Blossom puts on a big smile. I imagine she was expecting one of my other responses. "That's excellent Butch. But you have to be careful about gambling. Do it too much and you'll lose everything from your money to your family."

"That's for the people playing against me to worry about." I say with a grin.

I can see her gritting her teeth, trying not to frown at me. Hey I'm not made of stone.

* * *

"Hold up a minute there short stuff." I say to Princess. The stupid therapy session is finally over. I managed to catch Princess before she gets into her limo. "What were you saying about things being over?"

"Get in." She orders. I happily oblige.

"Ooo, nice." I say as I get comfortable. There's a TV and a bunch of food by the windows. Why did we never get a limo?

"You want to know what was over? You want to know what was over!" She yells at me.

I reach over and take a sandwich. "We'll you don't have to tell me right now." I say while I unwrap it.

"Everything was over!" She says as she picks up a drink. Wonder if there's alcohol in it?

She takes a gulp and continues. "You guys were the strongest in Townsville. The three of you, Mojo, and Him. The rest of us tried as hard as we could, but everyone knew that if anyone was going to beat the Powerpuffs, it was going to be you five."

"Yup, when you're the best you can forget all the rest." I said while chewing. Great sandwich. Its got bacon in it, and no crusts.

"Well that's exactly what happened. The rest of us had to quit, thanks to you lousy quitters!"

"Well why'd you do that? Just because we left didn't mean you had to stop."

"Of course it did! It completely killed moral for the entire criminal underworld! At first everyone thought you guys were hatching up some kind of super incredible evil scheme. So we waited, and waited, and waited. You never came back! We all figured, well that must be it. If the Powerpuff's greatest enemies decide to just give up, then there's really no beating those girls."

"Aw that's so sad. Too bad I don't care."

"Well you should care! Otherwise what good are you!"

"I happen to be the best, and I'm going to prove it very soon."

"You better, because if you don't, then you're nothing. The whole reason you boys were created was to kill those annoying girls. But all you did was lose, lose, lose! And I can't believe that you guys would just quit like that and admit to the world that the girls are better than you. Admitting that you're just failed experiments!"

"Alright I've had enough of you for a lifetime." I say. I fly up and punch a hole in the roof, letting myself out.

"I'm sending you the bill for this!" She yells after me.

"Good, then I'll have something to burn." I yell back.

Failed experiments, huh? God that is irritating. Big words coming out of a shrimp like her who definitely came the least close to ever beating the Puffs. Even those talking bacteria things almost got them…twice in fact! Damn, what am I even doing? I'm supposed to kill those girls, and I just spent the afternoon in a therapy session run by one of 'em! This is like what happened to the clown girl in Batman, only the other way around.

Well I've had enough of dickin' around with the Blue and Pink Puffs. I'm going to really focus from now on, and Buttercup won't know what hit her. We'll just see who loses in the end.


	7. Boomer's Week

Man I can't believe how many different rumors there are about Bubbles. Feels like I've heard almost everything possible. One person said she got infected with dark magic. Another said Professor Utonium screwed her mind up during an experiment. Somebody claimed that she lost her touch with animals and became depressed. The school therapist thinks that fighting so many monsters for so long caused her to have a breakdown. Course that doesn't explain why her sisters are fine. One group of girls actually thinks that Bubbles got raped a few years ago. Yeah, that really makes sense.

But you know, there's something else that's been bugging me. Mom and Dad are building some kind of weapon. We only have a basic idea of what it is. Mom told us a little about it before we left. He explained, multiple times of course, that its main function is to cause paralysis. It needs to be extra powerful if it's going to work on the girls. I'm wondering if it's going to do other things. Mom said we needed to have back up methods just in case.

If I was going to get any information it would have to be from the makers themselves. It was Wednesday night, just two days after we had called them. Brick was at the library working on something, and Butch was taking a nap, so I decided to give Mom and Dad a call. I set up the computer-phone thingy and waited for them to pick up.

Dad's big red face appeared on the TV. "Boomie! How nice to hear from you."

"Uh, hi Dad. How are things back home?"

"Splendid! Mommy's out getting some Chinese food. What's wrong dearie, are you home sick?"

"Oh umm…yeah I guess I am, just uh, a little bit."

Dad's eyes got all big and sparkly. "Oh that's just so precious! I understand completely, after all you've always been much more sensitive and emotional than your brothers. Don't tell them, but that's why you're my favorite."

I looked away, embarrassed. The things I got to go through.

I heard Dad's voice from off-screen. "Him who are you talking to?" He came over and looked into the camera. "Oh Boomer! I wasn't expecting to hear from you boys so early. Has something happened? Some sort of event, an occurrence worthy of immediate mention? Has there been a battle, or a confrontation gone wrong? Have the girls attempted to-"

Dad clamped Mom's mouth shut with his claw. "**For goodness sakes Mojo**, let the poor boy talk."

"Well you see," I began, "nothing's really happened yet. The thing is, we're trying to figure out what to do, because the girls are acting really weird."

"Pheird?" Mom asked. He pushed Dad's claw off his lips. "How are they acting weird?"

"It's not what we expected. Blossom isn't the smarty pants we figured she'd be, and Buttercup doesn't do sports or fighting anymore."

"What!" Mom yelled out. "Buttercup not doing any athletics?" He stroked his chin while looking at up. "That is strange indeed."

"What about the ever so lovable Bubbles?" Dad asked.

"You'll never believe this." I said, my voice getting sadder. "She wears dark clothes, doesn't talk to anybody, and just spends all day alone."

"Bubbles…is acting like that?" Dad asked.

I nodded.

Dad let out an angry yell. The screen turned a dark red. Mom jumped back a bit. "**All those years I spent doing everything I could to break that little girl! Then I leave for a little while and someone manages to actually succeed**!"

I could feel my heart falling into a giant pit.

"**That's just**…**that's**…I think I need to lie down for a while." Dad dropped his head and walked away to the side. The colors returned to normal and Mom regained his composure.

"You've got twenty minutes before I eat your chow mein." Mom yelled after Dad. He turned back to me. "This is most unexpected. I assume Brick is looking into it though."

I nodded. "Oh yeah we've both been doing research on what's been going on since we left."

"Good, very good." Mom said as he brought his hands together. "Let us know once you've discovered the cause of the girl's vast personality changes."

I felt my blood run cold. For all I know, I may be one of the reasons. "Oh and Brick has something he wanted me to ask. He was worried that in case we don't break the girls mentally enough, is your weapon gonna be able to hurt them at all?"

Mom let out an evil chuckle. "Tell Brick he has no need for concern. My weapon is not designed to destroy the girls outright. It is designed to cripple them in various ways. Every way I can possibly think of, and trust me, I know plenty of ways."

"Oh um, alright." I said, feeling nervous.

"Don't fret if you have trouble breaking the girls. If Bubbles has already had her spirit broken then our plan will proceed very smoothly. Don't be afraid to call if you have any problems. We'll see you again next week."

And Mom was gone.

* * *

So far I hadn't talked with Blossom or Buttercup. They'd looked over a few times at me the other day. They knew it was me, or at least they assumed it was me. I hadn't talked to Bubbles again. First I had to find out what happened to her, and there were only two other people who really knew. On my way out of History class I dropped a note onto Blossom's desk. I wrote on it that I needed to see her and Buttercup, alone, on the roof of the gym during lunch.

The gym roof was the perfect spot. I think the only way to get up on it is with a latter. If you're a human, that is. I just had to hope that my brothers weren't going to decide to fly around at all during lunch. I paced back and forth. How much did Blossom and Buttercup know? Did they know about the secret friendship that I had with Bubbles? Did they know about the plan we had seven years ago? Would they trust me at all?

I had decided I wasn't going to bring up Mojo and Him. Trust me, I want to tell them so badly. Thing is, they might not believe me. I know that Bubbles will believe me. Hell, she already knows exactly what's going on. Best bet is to wait for now. Got to take this one step at a time.

I turned around when I heard two sets of feet land behind me. Oh man, I was so nerve wrecked! Buttercup had her arms crossed and looked at me with indifference. Even though she's kind of short I still feel intimidated, just like when we were kids.

Memories were starting to flood back into my mind. So many battles. It was the only interactions we ever had with each other. No wonder I was feeling so tense. It's like my body remembered and was ready to get punched, or kicked, or thrown across the sky. I looked over at Blossom and started to feel better. There's just something…I don't know…friendly about her. She used to scare me too. Although that was probably more because I was scared of Brick and I assumed that Blossom was like a female version of him. Thankfully I could just sort of feel that this wasn't the case. Like she was giving off a vibe that felt comfortable. She was smiling and walking over to me. "Boomer, it is you, isn't it?" She asked.

"Yeah it's um…it's me." I said, feeling better.

Buttercup slowly walked over to me. "Sure is weird seeing you guys again." She eyed me up suspiciously. "Not to mention this little meeting right here."

I took a moment to clear my throat. "Look…I, um…"

"You're wondering about Bubbles, aren't you?" Blossom said.

I didn't say anything. I knew my face would answer.

"Yeah everyone always wants to know about Bubbles." Buttercup said after a minute.

Blossom put a hand on her hip. "From what we-"

"Hold on a minute Red." Buttercup interrupted. "We're not talking to you until you talk first."

"Buttercup come on, we should-"

"We're not at one of your therapy sessions Blossom. I know your system about trust and not asking personal questions is working so far, but we're talking about the Rowdyruff Boys here!" Buttercup said, pointing at me. "They were the craziest, most dangerous, psychotic, and just…overall unpleasant villains we ever faced! If there's ever a time to make an exception it's-"

"Buttercup." Blossom said softly as she leaned in close to her sister and put a hand on her shoulder. "Please…please believe in me."

Buttercup bit her lower lip while staring back at Blossom. Eventually she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Ok. I'll let you handle it." She said slowly.

Blossom looked over at me. "Listen, it's going to take a while to explain…" She reached into her pocket and pulled out a little card, which she handed to me. The card said 'Better Understanding' on it. "…so come meet us at the address on this card. Come around seven when the sun is setting."

I put the card in my pocket. "…thanks." I said, smiling.

Blossom smiled back. "We'll see you tonight." She said as the two Puffs left.

* * *

Why does Butch have to be so damn annoying! I was going to find out, finally find out, but he just ruined it! This is so horrible! Now Blossom and Buttercup are going to think that I set them up for a trap. They'll never tell me what happened to Bubbles. They're the only two who really know.

Wait…no. They aren't the only two.

I immediately fly off towards the Puff's house. The tall buildings soon disappear and are replaced with smaller ones. All of them white, same sizes, same driveways, same green yards. I stop once I reach the house with three round windows. I don't even know if they live here anymore. Well, I got to check. I hover over to the front door and knock.

It's been an hour so I knock again. Ok maybe it hasn't been an hour. The door opens up. In front of me is a man in a white lab coat, with a pipe in his mouth.

"Hello there stranger. What brings you here at this unreasonable hour?" He asks me in a very pleasant voice.

I fly up, grab onto his coat, and put my face right up to his. "Please! Please tell me what happened to Bubbles! I have to know! I just…have to know…" I slowly fall down and end up on my knees. I'll beg. I'm perfectly ok with that.

"Whoa, slow down there." The Professor says. "Why don't you come inside and we can talk."

I follow him inside. He leads me into a room with a sofa and some chairs. We sit down, but before he can speak I let it all out. "Look I'm not going to lie to you. I'm Boomer, one of the Rowdyruff Boys. We left seven years ago and just came back."

The Professor takes the pipe out of his mouth and looks at me with wide eyes. "You're one of the Rowdyruff Boys?"

"Yes but listen, I was friends with Bubbles. We were secret friends. We used to go meet each other at Cityville all the time. You got to believe me! Did Bubbles ever tell you? Cause before I left we were planning to ask you to help cause I wanted to stay here and I-"

I stop when I notice Buttercup has come into the room.

"Oh hello Buttercup." The Professor says happily. "One of your old mortal enemies is here for a visit. He's concerned about Bubbles, isn't that nice of him?"

"What, you're here?" Buttercup says while raising her voice. "Mind tellin' me what that scumbag Butch was doing over at the BU building?"

I'm trying to say something but no words are coming out.

Buttercup flies up and now she's right in my face. "I get it! You send Butch to keep me and Blossom distracted while you break into our house and kidnap the Professor! Well you Rowdyruff jerks have another thing coming if you think-"

"Will all of you please be quiet." I hear a voice say from the next room. It's Bubbles. She's in the kitchen getting a glass of water.

Buttercup grabs me before I can say anything. "Sorry Bubbles, but one of these rotten Ruffs broke into the house. We've got to lock him up downstairs before his brothers come looking for 'em."

"Wait, Bubbles!" I yell. I finally found my voice. "We were friends once, weren't we? Tell her, tell her that we were friends a long time ago and that I was going to break off from my brothers to start a new life!"

Buttercup tightens her grip on me. "Quiet down!" She orders. "You can start making up all the crazy stories you want once we-"

"Yes, that's true." Bubbles softly says as she heads upstairs.

"Huh?" Buttercup says, dropping me. "What, what do you mean that's true?"

"Boomer was just telling me about it before you came in." The Professor says. "Seems these two had a secret friendship going on behind our backs. Isn't that just delightful?"

"Delightful?" Buttercup says absentmindedly. She looks over at where Bubbles was standing in the kitchen. "I don't believe it. But if she says it's true…"

I get up off the couch. "Please just tell me why she's so…distant. What happened to her?"

Buttercup makes a scowl and puts a fist up near my face. I back up a little bit. "You want to know what happened to her, huh? Well maybe YOU should tell US!"

My legs hit the couch and I fall back onto it. "But, but I…I didn't…I, I…"

"Hold on there Buttercup." The Professor says as he puts a hand on her shoulder. "This is something that's between him and Bubbles, not us."

Buttercup lets out a defeated sigh and puts her fist down. The Professor puts his hand out to me. I take it and he pulls me up. "Listen Boomer, I'm glad that you're concerned about Bubbles, but I think a personal question like this should be for her to answer."

He walks me over to the door. "Tomorrow is Saturday, so why don't you come over around noon and you can talk to Bubbles if you'd like."

"Um…thanks." I say. "I will."

"Wonderful." The Professor smiles and he opens the door. "It's pretty late, so you should head on home for now."

"Alright." I say as I head outside.

"We'll see you tomorrow." The Professor says cheerfully as he closes the door.

Well at least I learned one thing tonight, where Blossom gets that joyful attitude of hers.


	8. Brick Tries

Today is the day. Today is the day we read our essays in English class.

Given my recent encounters with Blossom, I've been having some doubts about this plan. Blossom doesn't have the same self-righteous attitude she did when we were kids. Ok I don't know that a hundred percent, but I just kind of feel it. This is going to be the moment of truth. I gathered some information and I know now that this is the only AP class she's taking. She must have a talent for writing. I hope she does. Maybe I hope not. I don't know.

A few students have already gone. They've got some good essays, but nothing compared to mine.

The assignment isn't really anything special. One of those boring 'what I did over the summer' kind of deals. The students were all aware of this over the summer. Not me though. That's why I had to make a bunch of stuff up.

Blossom's turn. Just as I thought, her essay is about that BU thing she runs. Strangely enough, Butch actually went there and attended one of her therapy sessions. God, crime must have really gone downhill if this is Townsville's new way of dealing with it.

Blossom's finished and someone else is up, but I'm too busy thinking to really notice. I haven't come up with any ideas for the plan. How am I supposed to crush Blossom? The sad part is I refuse to admit it. I could ask Mojo, Him, or my brothers for help, but I can't bring myself to go down that road. I'm sure they think I've been grueling over all kinds of possibilities and scenarios these past few weeks, but my mind has been blank. I don't have any motivation.

Honestly I don't care much about Him and Mojo taking over the world. There's problem number one right there. And problem number two, is how I feel about Blossom. If this was happening seven years ago, there'd be no problem. Blossom was always pissing me off and I would have jumped at the chance to make her suffer in any way possible.

It's my turn now. I get up and walk to the front of the class.

I've never enjoyed having to make up stuff. Guess I just don't have the creativity. My essay is based off something that did happen, but it was a long time ago. Him decided to take us on a family vacation to celebrate our graduation of middle school. Naturally he took us down to the underworld. We got to meet the Grim Reaper. Rather odd thing though, he had two kids bossing him around. I swear the world just gets stranger and stranger as you get older.

Anyway we ended up hanging out with those two kids for a few days. I decided to center my essay on the one kid who…let's just say he makes the Townsville Mayor look like Tesla. Naturally I had to change a few details. I knew if I wanted to upstage Blossom I'd have to go for a sob story. So the kid became the littlest cancer patient and I became his best friend who made his last few months of life worth every second. You can't beat terminally ill children.

The rest of the class is giving me an enthusiastic round of applause. Now I need to look over at Blossom. What exactly do I want to see? Do I want her to be jealous? Would that fill the hole in my life? I'm supposed to be a weapon, aren't I? Specifically made to kill her. She's smiling and clapping, just like the rest of the class.

I don't know what I'm feeling anymore.

* * *

I was at home lying on the couch. Thinking about what I had lost. After class, Blossom had approached me. Her words still running around in my head.

"Brick…the essay you wrote was incredible. I want you to know that I'm just so happy you've turned over a new leaf like this. You're going to do great things for the world. Even greater than what I'll do. Let's talk later, ok?"

Boomer walked up and looked down at me. "What's with you? You look like you got shot."

"It's gone." I said while sitting up.

"What is?" Boomer asks me.

"Do you remember, how Him and Mojo always said that we were different from the other villains because we had a rivalry with the Puffs?"

"Of course."

I got up from the couch and started walking around. "I don't have a rivalry with Blossom anymore. She has no desire to be better than me. And it's not that I'm upset because this makes the plan harder, it's just…it upsets me on a personal level."

"Why's that?" Boomer asked me while he grabbed an old sandwich out of the fridge.

"It's making me think about life, as a whole. I mean it was always such a defining part of our lives. It's the whole reason we were born. Now it's like Blossom is gone. What do we do when the Puffs are taken out of our lives? What do we do after that?"

"Hey wait, she's not gone, Brick." Boomer said, putting his sandwich down. "She's still here, even if she's changed. Why don't you go talk to her? Maybe you'll find something. It might not answer all your life questions, but there might be something to help."

"Yeah…later on I could probably-"

"No, no, not later! Go do it now. She's at the BU building near the north bridge. If you don't go now, you won't ever go."

I looked out the window. It was a nice day out, warm with only a few clouds. Boomer had a point. The longer you wait, the less likely you are to act. "You're a lot more assertive then you've been this past week." I said.

"Well you're not the only one thinking about life and the world and stuff." Boomer said, leaning against the wall. "You can't just sit back all the time and expect things to magically work out."

I opened the window. "Thanks, a little push is what I needed." I said as I flew out.

I decided to take a little walk before heading to the BU building. I hadn't had a chance yet to look around Townsville. I landed at the park with Mojo's old volcano. I strolled down the paved pathway, looking at all the people. They were all so happy. Some kids were flying kites, a family was playing with a toy speedboat over by the pond, some climbers were even scaling up the back of the volcano.

I thought about what Butch had reported last week. How that rich girl claimed that our absence was what drove crime out of Townsville. I wondered if that was really true. What if we had stayed here? Would the Puffs have changed so much? Would there still be super villains running around causing mayhem? Or would it be like this, nearly crime free? Would I be a different person if I had stayed here? Would Blossom have still embraced non-violent solutions…would she have reached out to me?

My thoughts were interrupted by an annoying voice. "Pardon me, sir, with the badly cut red hair. If you're not too busy being all emo, would you like to donate some pocket change to a better world?"

I looked over where the voice had come from. Not changing my expression, I walked over and put my hands down on the table. Some papers and pens fell onto the ground. "This is what you've been doing the past week? Charity fraud?"

Butch just leaned back in his chair. "Who says I'm doin' fraud? You always assume the worst things from me."

I crossed my arms and began tapping my foot.

"Really, I mean it." He said, putting his hands up. "What would I do with money? _Buy_ things? Makes no sense when I can steal whatever I want. The reason I'm out here…" He pointed down to his table.

The papers all had the now familiar letters BU on them. "You're helping her organization?" I asked.

Butch sat up and put his arms on the table. "You know I said to myself I wasn't gonna do this, but the next thing you know, I'm out in the park gettin' donations. Besides, isn't this what you wanted? Blossom actually thinks I've become a good person. That girl is far too trusting, if you ask me."

I let out a disgusted sigh and turned around.

"You always get so testy when Blossom's brought up." Butch said. "What's wrong, do you want her all to yourself?" He asked me suggestively.

"There's nothing between us anymore." I said, ignoring his stupid attempt to taunt me. "There's no more rivalry. It's like she was replaced with another person."

"That's not true at all."

I turned around and looked at him. "Why, what have you seen?" I asked.

Butch put his hands behind his head. "Well I've had a couple of fun time therapy sessions with her, I spend most of the time testing her waters. And I guarantee you, that ego of hers is still there."

"You really think so?"

"I know so. I see it, little flashes on her face. She tries so hard to be patient, but that aggravation is in there."

Interesting. I hadn't spent much of any time in her company so far. Perhaps my initial views on her BU club weren't completely off. Blossom had always been one of those people who crave control. Even if she had traded in her method, in the end there wasn't much of a core difference. If we started messing around with her operations, she could very well lose her cool, like she used to.

"If that's the case," I said, "then setting her up for a major fall concerning us will do the trick."

"Exactly. Oh, and I need you to do something for me." Butch said, reaching into a bag.

He handed me an envelope. "Give this to Buttercup for me."

"Mind if I ask why?" I said, looking it over.

"I already tried to give it to her. She just tore it up. Didn't even look up from her stupid book."

"Well what's in here, a letter?"

"Yeah just a letter. A private letter, mind you. Some of us still have a rivalry goin'."

"I thought the two of you were on totally different levels now."

"True, but it's not like our childhood didn't happen. There's still a spark there. And even if this plan wasn't happenin', I want to settle things."

"I'll give it to her." I said, putting the envelope in my pocket.

"Oh and uh, don't tell her it's from me."

"Sure. I'm going to go see Blossom now." I said, and took off.

"The rivalry's not gone, Brick. It's still there, you just gotta bring it out." He yelled after me.

* * *

It's a nice building, very clean, very professional looking…vegetables growing near the walls. Yeah, I know what she's doing with those. I'm waiting for her to finish up one of her therapy sessions. No wonder she isn't taking a bunch of advanced placement classes. I'm kind of surprised she's even going to high school. Like she needs any other credentials besides being a Powerpuff Girl. I guess it would be bad PR if she didn't have a college degree.

Looks like her session is starting to end. I'm still wondering about her intentions. Is this whole thing mostly just an ego trip for her? Does she sincerely want to help the world? Is there a dark side hidden beneath her cute face? I'm never going to know unless I talk to her.

"Brick, hello!" She says happily. "I'm glad you're here."

"I thought I'd see how this-"

"Wait, hold on for a moment." She takes my arm and leads me into the room. Her patients, or whatever, have all left so it's just the two of us.

"I want you to know something." She tells me. "All of this, that I've been spending years putting together, I did all this…because of you."

God Dammit. Why is it, every time I talk to this girl, she pulls out something completely unexpected that I have no idea how to react to?

"Listen Brick…I felt bad…when you left." She looks off to the side while she talks. I can tell this isn't easy for her. "I used to wonder about you, and if things had to be the way they were. And I wondered…if I could change it."

She takes my hand. "When we were younger, I thought there was more to you than just a violent boy. But I didn't try hard enough. And when you disappeared, I thought I'd never get a chance. I started trying to help other criminals, and I hoped that if I ever saw you again, I'd be able to help you too. Seeing you now…I'm happier than I've ever been! I know now there's hope, for everyone." She puts her other hand onto mind, and looks me in the eyes. "You give me hope, Brick. Hope for the world..."

My heart is beating really fast. No one has ever talked to me like this. Said these kinds of things. Made me feel this way. I just look back at her.

There's no darkness in her eyes. Just calm, soothing pink.


	9. Butch Tries

I tried to wave away the smoke, but it wasn't doin' much good. That annoying Princess girl sure enjoys her cigarettes.

"Aren't you a little young to be a chain smoker?" I ask as I flip my deck of cards around.

She gives me a dirty look. "My daddy owns this stupid city, so I can do whatever I want, whenever I want!"

"Well if you want to dry up and look seventy when you hit thirty, then more power to ya." I respond. "But what I don't get is why you don't chew like Fuzzy here." I look over at…whatever the hell Fuzzy is, who's sitting to my left.

Princess lets out a little grunt with her smoke. "Because I have class, unlike stupid backwoods hicks."

Fuzzy gives her an angry look and spits out into his pot. "Hey little lady, ther' ain't nothin' wrong with a little chewin' tobacco. It a trait shared by all us Lumpkins."

"Yeah they all do it," I say with a chuckle, "and think about this, you could spit on all the lowly peasants as you strut down the street every morning."

"I can do that without the tobacco." She shoots back.

"Hey uh…aren't we gonna play some cards here?" One of the Amoeba Boys asks.

"Just hold up for a little longer." I say. "We're still missing the guest of honor."

God what a crew I've assembled here. These lame ass morons were the only villains I could find still living in Townsville. Princess wasn't kidding when she said crime took a nosedive. Buttercup better show up. Brick told me that she said she would come.

I put my feet up on the table, trying to get comfortable. "So tell me, what happened to everybody? This city used to be crawling with all kinds of weirdos."

"Well we want you to tell us what happened to Mojo and Him." Princess said, putting her feet up like mine.

"I told you already, I don't know where they are. My guess is they're trying to conquer some other world where they don't get beaten up constantly by little girls."

"Well I don't believe you. I think they're planning something and it's so lame that they won't include me in it!"

"Dat's right," Fuzzy chipped in, "we us'd ta be team, and we took them girls down all four of us, we did."

I did a facepalm. "Oh please, I don't need to hear about that again. But come on, tell me, where did everybody go?"

"Well they, uh left." Says one of the Amoebas. "After Blossom turned them all good."

"So her therapy stuff really does work, huh?" I ask.

"Doesn't work on us." Princess proudly states.

The amoebas all grin. "That's why we're the toughest and evilest of all the villains!"

"Of course you are." I say, rolling my eyes.

Fuzzy points a pink finger in my face. "We'll yur one ta talk. How come you and yur kin ain't out there fightin' those girls?"

"Because we've got bigger fish to fry." I say, pushing his hand away (hard enough to make the giant pincushion fall off his chair, heh heh).

"And I bet you're getting help from Him and Mojo, aren't you?" Princess asks.

"I told you-"

We all look over as the door opens. The light is dim, but I can make out her form. That messy black hair and that tiny frame. Oh and what's this? She's wearing a green shirt with cut off sleeves and jeans. Now that looks like the real Buttercup.

Princess puts her hands up and starts yelling. "What! You invited a Powerpuff to our game?"

"Relax, Princess." I say as Buttercup takes her seat across from me and eyes us up. "We're just havin' a friendly little poker game. No need to get your ugly face even uglier."

"Fine then." She says as she lights up another one. "I can put her in the gutter along with the rest of you fools."

"Yeah I'd love to see that." I say as I deal out the cards. I give Buttercup an amused smile. "I like the outfit. It's very you."

"Uhh, that's Buttercup?" The big amoeba asks. "But she ain't even wearin' a lab coat."

"I don't believe I ever did see her wearin' that kind o getup." Fuzzy adds.

"I don't really have a lot of clothes." Buttercup says, looking at her cards. She gives me a little smirk. Ok fine, she wins this round.

Princess puts in a bet. "You're not going to have any clothes after I crush you tonight."

I throw in some cash to meet the bet. "Hey I like the sound of that."

"Just deal, you freak." Princess says, letting out more smoke.

* * *

"Aww, how can we be out already?" The little amoeba whines.

"Because Slim bet all our dough on a pair of twos!" Answers the big one.

"Gee boss, I really thought we had it." The other one replies. I guess that one's Slim.

"Well the Amoeba Boys are out." I say, looking over my new hand.

"Who'd have thought." Buttercup mutters.

The two girls soon fold, leaving me and Fuzzy. I throw a fifty into the pile. "So what's it gonna be Fuzzy?"

The big pink lump slams a large bottle onto the table. "I's all in now!" He says excitedly.

The three of us make faces. Buttercup leans forward and takes a sniff. "Is that your moonshine?"

"Darn tootin' it is." Fuzzy says proudly.

"Actually it's mine now." I say as I flip my cards.

"A full house!?" Fuzzy yells. "Aw no, not me moonshine!"

The stupid hick is now cryin' all over the table. I roll my eyes and push the bottle back to him. He immediately lights up and starts hugging it. Buttercup is givin' me a funny look.

"It's probably got his piss in it or something." I say as I cross my arms.

Once Fuzzy and the Amoeba's decided to leave I wondered if I should risk trying to get some information. But Princess beat me to it.

"Before you got here, Puff, we were trying to get Butch to tell us where Mojo and Him are."

Buttercup looks up at me. "Been wondering that myself. Pretty odd that they would just let you guys go so easily."

"Is it really that odd?" I ask. "I mean how many villain team ups have lasted more than a couple hours?"

Princess slams her fists on the table. "The Beat-Alls, that's who! We took the Puffs down every time they tried to fight us. That's more than you and your brothers ever accomplished."

"Oh please." Buttercup says.

"Shut up! I know you're going to say that you would have eventually found a way to stop us, but you didn't. Maybe you never would have, maybe the four of us would be ruling the whole world right now, if Mojo hadn't gotten involved with that other stinking monkey."

"Well who do think introduced him to that other monkey?" Buttercup says while she laughs.

Princess gets a priceless look of horror on her face. I start to laugh too. "Guess Mojo forgot to mention that to you guys, haha!" I say.

"If we tried again, I know we'd win." Princess mumbles to herself.

"Yeah but that's not happenin'." I say. "I don't think Mojo or Him like stupid gingers. I'm pretty sure they got rid of us because of Brick."

"You've got plenty of excuses, don't you?" Buttercup mutters.

"Are we playing or what?" Princess yells back to me.

"Alright, alright." I say, dealing out a new hand. "Speaking of soulless monsters, how's Bubbles doing?"

Buttercup gives me a dirty look. "She's with me in thinking that you're here to cause trouble. Specifically for our family."

"Aww, I'm crushed Buttercup. Can't you be more like Blossom?"

"No, I can't."

"But really, I'm dying to know what made her become a freaking goth."

"Boomer wanted to know too. He even came to my house to find out."

I raise an eyebrow. Boomer hadn't mentioned that. I fix my facial expression and look at Buttercup. "Well that's sweet. See, we're not here to cause trouble, we're here to make peace."

"He also said that he used to be friends with Bubbles before you guys left."

I roll my eyes. Leave it to Boomer to come up with the most unbelievable excuse ever. "Oh don't mind him making up crap, he's always trying to-"

"Bubbles said it's true."

I stop talking and stare at my cards. My mouth is hanging open but I don't even notice. I look over at Princess. She's lookin' at me with the same "What the Hell" look on her face. I look over at Buttercup, she's giving me that suspicious look again. I must say, the silence is very uncomfortable. "Bubbles…said they were friends…when they were kids?" I finally ask.

"That's what she said. So I'm guessing you-"

"Let's just…play some cards now." I say.

Damn, I was not expecting that!

We play for a while longer. As I thought, Buttercup isn't doing too bad. I've only got a little more money than she does, and Princess is down to her last buck.

Princess reaches into her purse and pulls out a wad of hundreds. She puts on a wicked grin as she puts them in the pile. "You want to finish this round, you two are gonna have to go all in."

"I'm pretty sure you can't do that." I say nonchalantly.

"I already told you, I can do whatever I want, so what's it going to be?"

Buttercup lets out an annoyed little sigh and tosses her cards away. They both look over at me.

"Ok, you wanna play, then we'll play." I say, putting the rest of my money in the pile.

I turn my attention to my counterpart across from me. "You're not doing too bad, Buttercup. You play much?"

"Couple of times." She says in a bored voice.

I turn over my cards. Princess lets out a screech and storms out the door. I just laugh. "That's what she gets for bluffing so much." I say.

Buttercup yawns. "Well it's just us now. I'm guessing this is what you wanted to happen?"

"Well I knew you'd be the only one who can play around with percentages." I say, trying to sort out my winnings. I hear her chair move and look up. Why is she getting up? "If you want a bathroom you're better off waiting." I say.

She starts putting her money away in her pockets. "I'm sick of this, I'm out of here." She says.

"You can't leave now! The game's just about to really start."

She glares at me. "I'm not playing your games Butch."

I grit my teeth. This isn't supposed to be happening. "You quit, then you have to give up all your cash you know."

She pulls her money out of her pockets. Piles of bills fall to the floor. She heads out the door, slamming it closed, leaving me alone in the room with the smell of smoke.

What the hell was that? I quickly head out the door. She hasn't taken off yet, so I grab onto her from behind. "You're not leaving until we settle this." I say.

"Settle what?" She asks, not moving.

"Our fight!" I yell as I spin her around. "You know, our rivalry, our death match, we're mortal enemies here, and we were born to see whose better!"

Ah damn, I sound like Mojo.

"Our rivalry?" She asks, lowering her eyes.

"Yes, I know it's been a while but-"

"WE DON'T HAVE A RIVALRY!" She screams, hovering over my head. I take step back in surprise. "We never had anything! You were just some stupid, annoying kid who used to always cause problems for me and my sisters! We were never mortal enemies either! All you are is a stain on my past and I'd love nothing more than to forget you ever existed!"

I try to say something but she keeps on going.

"And I don't know why you came back here, but if it's just because you wanted to have some kind of fight with me, then that is truly pathetic! I have a life now, a life I love that doesn't involve you in any way! And from what I can tell, you're still stuck in the past. Did you not do anything in the last seven years?"

"I-"

"Of course you didn't! Why else would you be trying to finish a stupid fight from seven years ago when we were just a bunch of stupid kids! A fight that only existed in your stupid head!"

I'm trying to think of something to say. Every second of silence feels worse and worse.

She points her finger at me. "You have nothing in your sad little life, and I don't care if some deranged monkey created you to kill me, because I want nothing to do with you." With that, she flies off into the night sky.

I don't believe I've ever been spoken to like that.

* * *

A/N: My free time is now scarce, so updates will take longer. Not to worry though, I will get the story done. Once something like this gets stuck in my head it refuses to leave.


	10. Boomer Tries

I hadn't been to the beach in a long time. Even though it was chilly, the air felt great on my face. Bubbles and I were the only ones there. She hadn't said much so far. We had spent the day wondering around some of the old places where we used to hang out. It was fun to see how things had changed, but I was too curious about Bubbles to really enjoy the nostalgia.

The sun was beginning to set. We were on the sand eating large cheeseburgers. It had always been our favorite snake when we were kids. I remember how surprised I was the first time I saw her devour one in five seconds. Those first few weeks we started spending time together were so much fun, watching her do all kinds of un-Bubbles like things.

I looked over at her. She was wearing a very strange looking scarf. It had a nice star pattern on it, but she must have torn it off of a bed sheet or something. I liked how long it was, and how it flowed in the wind. I decided to tell her that. "That's a really cool scarf. It looks great, like you're a super hero."

She looked over at me as she finished eating her burger. "You always did like my weird clothes."

"Yeah, I've always admired that about it you, and…about my-"

"You've got it backwards." She said out of nowhere.

I did a quick look at myself. "What do you mean I-"

"It wasn't anything you did that made me change."

I smiled and my shoulders instantly relaxed. I hadn't even noticed how tense I had been. "I'm so glad to hear that! I was really worried that when I didn't show up at your house that day…"

"I don't blame you for that. Even though they're crazy and evil, they're still your family. I realized pretty quickly that asking you to just abandon them like that was too much. I wouldn't have been able to do it either."

We were silent for a few minutes. Just the sound of the tide. A few seagulls were hopping around near the water. I was happy that Bubbles wasn't upset about me leaving…but I still felt rotten. I may not have abandoned my family, but I did abandon her. My friend. Maybe I could have found a way to keep myself with all of them.

I turned and looked at her. "If it wasn't me, then what was it?" I asked.

"Like I said, you had it backwards. It wasn't you Boomer, it was everyone else."

"But…I don't understand." I felt bad for not getting what she was saying. Sometimes I wish I could have an easier time reading between the lines, like Brick and Butch.

Bubbles turned towards me. "You did understand. You understood how I wanted to have fun and do my own thing. Go my own way. Be myself. No one else understood that."

She got up and slowly walked towards the water. I followed her as she aimlessly wondered around the sand. I figured she was trying to find the right way to explain things. I do that too.

She looked out at the endless water. "I was…lonely…after you left. I decided to stop hiding in Cityville. And when I starting acting differently-"

"They all thought you'd gone nuts." I finished her sentence for her.

She looked at me for a second. I was glad that I had finally caught on. She continued. "No one would accept that I wanted to be different. Not my sisters, not my friends, not the people of Townsville…no one. They thought something was wrong with me. Blossom and Buttercup kept trying to "fix" me so I'd go back to _normal_. After a while, I just couldn't take it anymore."

I rubbed the back of my head. I wanted to say something, but I just couldn't think of the right words. I knew that Bubbles could sense how sorry I was for her. She could always read me really well.

Bubbles began hovering just slightly off the ground. She gradually moved over the water. Naturally I followed her. "No one wanted me to change. They all wanted me to stay the same. To be sweet, innocent, naïve, and bubbly. The town couldn't handle having its predictable little world shattered."

I flew in front her. "But listen, I'm back now. You don't have to be lonely anymore. We can go have fun again."

She closed her eyes and smiled. Wow, it was great seeing her smile again, after all this time. "You're sweet Boomer, but I need a little more time."

After saying that, she began to slowly fly away. I didn't follow her that time. I could just sort of tell that our meeting was over. Maybe I'm not as bad at reading between the lines as I think I am.

I spent some time wondering around the beach. The sun was almost set now. I sat down on the sand and tried to sort my thoughts out. How was I going to handle all of this? Mojo and Him were going to come to Townsville eventually and try to kill the Puffs. So far I hadn't done a damn thing to stop them, or slow them down, or anything. I wondered what my brothers were thinking. Well, it wasn't hard to know what Butch was thinking. He'd been bragging about how he was the only one who'd actually been making progress.

The sun was almost down now. There was still red light dancing along the ocean. What about Brick? He'd been acting oddly for a couple of weeks now. Brick had been really determined before we got here, but looking at him now….he'd been so quiet, and distant. Was he having second thoughts about all this? I know that Blossom hadn't turned out to be the psycho perfectionist we thought she'd be, so was that throwing him off this badly?

I kept staring at the red light as I thought about my situation. The sun was down now, and the stars were bright. They just made me think about Bubbles scarf. I wondered if I could help her by talking to her sisters. Surely Blossom would listen and understand if I carefully explained what had happened all those years ago. Then Bubbles would be happy again, and I could tell them about what Mojo and Him were planning to do.

Something clicked in my brain. The sun was down…so…why was there still red light reflecting on the water? Then I had a much more important question, why was it moving?

The light was spinning around on the water's surface. It began to move faster and faster. I stood up and backed away as it became a whirlpool. A red whirlpool. Then I heard the laughing. His laughing.

Suddenly everything turned red. The water, the sky, the sand, the air. I put my arm up as a bright flash of red light nearly blinded me. The laughter was still ringing in my ears. Once the light went away, the form of my Dad floated on the water.

"_Oh Boomie, it's so good to see you again_." Him said with a smile.

"Wha, what are you…doing here?" I asked as a slightly trembled.

"_You know, beach stuff. Getting a tan, hanging ten, watching you catch up with your old friend_."

I felt my blood go cold. I wanted to fly away as fast as I could, but my body didn't want to move.

"_Did you think I wouldn't notice? All those times you snuck out at night, and those times when you'd disappear for hours? I'm just a biiiiiiit more perceptive then the average villain you know_."

I wanted to say something, anything.

Him let out a depressed sight and hung his head. "_I was really hoping we could have avoided this. That's why I took you away from here. Can't have those horrible girls corrupting my most valuable weapons, after all_."

"She's not corrupting me!" I suddenly shouted. "Bubbles has treated me better than you or anyone else ever has! I'm not your weapon either, and I'm not going let you hurt her, or her sisters, or anyone else!"

Him didn't looked fazed at all by my outburst. He just smiled and chuckled. "_**OH REALLY**_!" He yelled, pointing one of his claws at me.

The pain that came! It was like my blood had been replaced with boiling water! I wrapped my arms around my chest and fell to my knees. I couldn't see anything, couldn't breathe, couldn't move. Then it was gone. I sucked in as much air as I could. My sight was coming back, but I felt so dizzy. I gave up and let myself drop onto the sand. I stared up at the stars, waiting for my head to clear up. As soon as it did, Him's grinning face appeared above me.

"_That's what happens when you don't behave_." He said mocking.

I rolled to my right and got up. Great, now what was I supposed to do? There was nothing I could do, so I did nothing. Him just laughed as I stood there.

"_I wouldn't unleash monsters like you three without making sure I had an actual leash_." Him said as he lazily floated in the air. "_And don't get any funny ideas about trying to attack me, because you're only alive thanks to my powers. If I go down_…" Him somehow snapped his claw and caused fire to appear around me. I wanted to move, but the heat was all around me. The fire got bigger and bigger, closer and closer. I had to close my eyes once it got too close. "_**YOU GO DOWN WITH ME**_!" I heard Him's loud voice right next to me.

Suddenly the heat was gone. I opened my eyes and saw that everything was back to normal. No fire, no red coloring everywhere. Just Him, sitting on a beach chair. He lifted up his sunglasses, looked over me and smiled. "_But I'm sure you won't have to resort to doing something so drastic. Look at the bright side, once the girls are gone I can dispose of that annoying monkey, not to mention anything else that gets on my nerves, and if you boys behave and do a good job, I might just let you keep living_."

"_And another thing sweetie_." Him said as he floated up into the sky on his chair. "_Do try and keep your brothers on track. I'm worried that Brick might be having a similar problem. See you soon_!" He said happily, and disappeared.

I sat there for a long time. I can't remember the last time I was scared to move.


	11. Blossom Struggles

I yawned as I closed my laptop. Already it was one a.m., and Buttercup wasn't back yet. It didn't matter to me if she was out until four a.m., because I needed to know how that card game had gone. I had managed to catch up on my homework, but now there wasn't anything else to do. It's funny how I can't remember what I used to do when I had free time. Well I haven't completely forgotten. Usually I'd be playing a game or watching a show with my sisters. That was a long time ago. That was back when Bubbles…

Speaking of Bubbles, she was also sitting in the living room. A rare occurrence. She spent nearly all of her time in her room or out…wherever it is she goes. She was sitting on the big leather chair, buried in a book. We'd been in the room for nearly three hours, and, had I been blind, I would have never known she was present.

I had so many questions to ask her. Imagine my shock when the Professor told me that she and Boomer had been friends back when we were kids! I never had even the slightest inkling. How did she manage to hide something like that so well?

I was trying so hard to hold back from sending a barrage of questions onto her. I realized too late that drilling her for information was not the way. In fact, it's not ever the way. Still though, I didn't get this far in my life without trying.

"Bubbles, I've been wondering about your relationship with Boomer. How long ago did you two become friends?"

The only noise in the room came from the old clock on the wall. Sixty soft clicks went by. Another sixty. Another. I just laid my head back and looked at the ceiling. I remember how Bubbles used to play word tricks with me. That was back in middle school. She had an amazing talent for finding loopholes in a statement. Where she picked it up, I have no idea.

I remember one time when she had come to school wearing a pirate bandana.

"What is that?!" I had asked as soon I saw her.

"It's my backpack." She replied.

"I mean what is that on your head?"

"My hair."

"No! What is that bandana on your head?"

"Yes, that's what it is."

"No you…why are you wearing it!?"

"I have to carry it on my back, it has my books in it."

"The bandana!" I yelled. "Why are you wearing a bandana with a skull on it in school?"

"Because I wrapped it around my head and tied the back."

Oh how those conversations would drive me crazy. It never mattered how carefully I asked, she would always dance around my words. I was so frustrated with her that I never stopped to think about how clever she was being.

My thoughts were interrupted by the door. Buttercup was back!

"Hey, how was it?" I asked as I flew towards the door.

"Hold on a sec, I'm thirsty." She replied, walking into the kitchen. I patiently wanted as she filled up a glass with water and take a few sips.

"How was the card game?" I asked, unable to hold in my enthusiasm.

"Well, I certainly had a good time." She said with a smirk.

"Aaaaand…what does that mean?"

"As soon as that idiot had me where he wanted me, I left."

"You just left?"

"He tried to stop me, until I gave him a piece of my mind!"

My face fell. Somehow I knew that was going to happen. "Buttercup, you promised you'd try and talk with him a little."

"Oh I talked with him plenty!" Buttercup said loudly as she opened the cupboard. She took out a box of crackers. "You should have seen the pathetic setup. Inviting those old morons, trying to…get me angry so I'd…pick a fight. Then he thinks I'm gonna just...play his stupid games like he wants me to do…" She said as she stuffed crackers into her mouth.

"What exactly did you say to him?

"What do you think I…said to him?" Buttercup replied between mouthfuls. "I told em how pathetic he is for…coming back here and…trying to…get involved in my life. Thinking that…all I care about it havin' fights…he doesn't even care how much trouble and pain…he caused us."

Buttercup filled her glass up with water and quickly drank it all down. She likes to eat when she's stressed out. She let out an angry breath. "Look, I'm not like you Blossom. I can't pretend those three didn't do countless horrible things to us and this city. I'm not gonna start any fights with them, but I'm not gonna let them-"

"Buttercup, listen." I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm not pretending they weren't criminals all those years ago. You know that."

Buttercup closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. "I know…I'm sorry. It's just…" She walked over to the living room. "Too much is happening. They show up out of nowhere, Butch is trying to pick fights with me, Brick is trying to get information out of me, and Boomer," She sank into the sofa chair across from Bubbles, "was friends with Bubbles, but SHE WON'T-"

"Not so loud!" I interrupted. "The Professor's sleeping."

"I just don't get how everyone can be so nonchalant about this." She finished, crossing her arms. "Oh, and I'd like to visit the 'Mojo and Him are still unaccounted for' issue again, if you don't mind."

"Did you ask him about them?"

"Yeah, but once again the answer is 'I don't know.' Fat chance they don't know."

"It is possible they don't."

"Oh come on!" Buttercup gave me an angry look.

"I'm serious, it's a possibility. I mean, if the boys did decide to stop being criminals, then of course they would part ways with Him and Mojo."

"Well I'm not at all convinced that Butch wants to be an upstanding citizen."

"What if…it's more because Brick wants to be? Maybe he realized they were heading for a dead end, and he's making them change things around."

Buttercup gave me a suspicious look. "You sure that's not just wishful thinking on your part, Blossom?"

I wanted to respond, but...my mind had locked up.

Buttercup yawned and got out of her chair. "I'm not a psych major like you Blossom, but from where I'm standing, you're letting your feelings get in the way of your judgment. We scientists have to approach things with an unbiased opinion if we want to get any real results. I think that you want them to be good so badly that you completely believe they've changed. You won't consider that they might be tricking us. I know you say it's only a possibility that they've turned a new leaf, but…do _you_ really think it's only a possibility?"

I stood there as Buttercup went upstairs. Just the sound of the clock's ticks once again. I fell into the now empty sofa chair. I was too tired to count. Bubbles hadn't moved an inch. I started to talk out loud. My mind felt too cluttered.

"She's right…I have convinced myself that they're not bad anymore. I really don't want it to be true. I don't want all of this to be a trick."

I listened to the soft ticking some more.

"Why did they leave? I…I didn't want Brick to leave. I wanted to help him." I let out a sigh. "Why couldn't things have gone differently?"

"If it were that simple, none would suffer in this world."

I looked over at Bubbles. I can't remember the last time she'd answered one of my questions. Actually, seriously, answered. "Bubbles…could we talk for a little bit. Please…sis?"

She put her book down and looked at me. She was really looking at me. For years there was fogginess in her eyes whenever our visions met. Like I was trying to look across a foggy field, but all I could see was the faint outline of the trees on the other end. Her blue eyes were now clear. Almost the way they looked when we were younger.

"Buttercup's right…and I'm really worried. It goes deeper, though. I've met and worked with so many people…but…I've got a strong attraction to Brick. I want to get closer to him…I've wanted to get closer to him for a long time."

Bubbles just looked at me.

I tried my best to explain it. "I know it's strange that I feel this way about him, and that I even felt this way somewhat when we were younger. I think it's because-"

"Because he inspired you in so many ways."

I was a bit taken back by Bubbles so bluntly reading my mind, but I was too tired to be truly surprised. "That's right, I saw something in him. I think it was the first time I realized I wasn't dealing with a villain…I was dealing with a person. I've based my whole life around that idea now, and he was the spark. The thing is…I don't know if I'm attracted to him, or the idea of him."

Bubbles stood up. "No matter how hard you try, you can't fake having genuine feelings for a person. Go tell him, see how he responds. If he feels the same way…you'll be able to tell. You'll feel it."

Bubbles silently went upstairs. I stayed on the chair and closed my eyes. The ticking became softer and softer as I drifted away.

* * *

"Please, just be the room, that's all I ask. You don't have to talk to him, or look at him, or anything." I begged.

Buttercup was taking deep breaths through her nose. "…fine, I'll be in the room. But I don't see how me being here is so important."

"Trust me, it's part-"

"Part of the process! Always part of the process. You know someday you're gonna have to work with somebody who won't accept that excuse all the time."

"I know, and that person won't be as great as you are."

Buttercup rolled her eyes at my compliment. She went back to working on her math homework. It was lunch time and we were alone in the science lab. I needed to see how her night with Butch had affected him. While I may not have been sure about the other two, it was pretty obvious that Butch needed some help. What kind of heroine would I be if I didn't help those who needed help the most? And if they were trying to start over, Brick would definitely appreciate the help…

Before I could start thinking about that slice of drama, Butch strutted into the lab.

"Blossom…and Buttercup! Two beautiful girls all to myself. Best lunch period ever."

I looked down at Buttercup and smirked as she gnawed on her bottom lip. I was really proud of her for keeping her temper in check this past month. She's never had to put up with someone like Butch since…well since Butch himself.

"Good to see you too, Butch. I wanted to see how you were doing lately."

"Really, you're worried about me? Even though I tried to beat you to death with a tree?" He patted me on the shoulder. "Aww, you're too good for this sinful earth."

He looked over to Buttercup and put on a sly smile. "Buttercup, I'm glad you're here," he walked over and put his hands on her table, "you didn't give me a chance to respond last night."

Buttercup glared up, which made Butch's smile widen. "Listen, I don't want you to get the wrong idea about me."

Buttercup let out an angry sound, sort of like a combination of a growl and a raspberry. Butch put his hands up. "Ok, ok! You were right. Kinda. Yes, I did think we had something of a rivalry back in the day, and I was looking forward to picking up where we left off. But I just want you to know, it's not that I have nothing else in life. The fact is, there's a lot of stuff that gives me a rush. It's just that you used to give me a really, really big one. Honestly, I've never been able to replicate it."

"Oh for God sakes." Buttercup muttered as she rested her head on her hand.

Butch crossed his arms and kept smiling down at her. "If you don't feel that way, it's fine. I shouldn't be makin' assumptions like that. I just don't want you to think I've been doing nothing but obsessing over you for the last seven years. It's not like I'm an anime character. I'm much more of an irresistible, European type of character."

I chuckled a bit. That's one way of putting it.

"Anyway, I hope we can put all that playground craziness behind us." Butch said as he made his way out the door. "Oh and Blossom," He stuck his head back through the door, "I wasn't really gonna beat you death. I was just gonna beat you enough so that you'd walk funny." And with that, Mr. European was gone.

I shook my head and laughed. "Well that was-"

"A complete load of bull." Buttercup said flatly, without hesitating.

I looked down at her. "Oh, you think so?"

Buttercup closed her eyes and held her head up. "You should have seen the look on his face when I yelled at him last night. He was completely baffled when I said that I could have cared less about our fights, and that all I want is for him to disappear for good."

"So you think he really has been obsessing over you all this time?"

"Of course he has." Buttercup spat out as she put her paper away in her bag. "Everything I said last night was completely true, and that little speech is just part of another game he's trying to play with me."

I thought back to what Buttercup had said last night. Not to Butch, but to me. About not letting your feelings cloud your judgment. I could have pointed it out, but I figured Buttercup had had enough stressful conversations for the moment.

* * *

Brick wasn't in English class. Not that I was going to confess my feelings in the middle of a classroom, but I was hoping to have a nice chat. Maybe ask him to meet me at my favorite café after school. Oh, but then again, I do need to check up with a few of my colleagues. Bubbles was right. I wonder where she heard that little piece of wisdom.

Something was waiting for me at my locker after class. Sitting there on top of my pile of books was a letter!

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry, where you expecting Brick?

Glad everyone is enjoying the fic so far. I was curious to see what kind of reactions this story would get.

I got the idea for this after reading sbj's fic, "More Than Human." While it's very well written, I really hate how predicable it is, and how the Puff's and Ruff's are characterized. Especially Blossom and Brick, who got the Mary/Marty Sue treatment.

It's not just that story though. I see the same plots repeated over and over again in many fics. Rarely does anyone shake up the norm and try to go in different directions. Figured it would be fun to screw around with everyone's expectations.


	12. Butch Does Not Struggle

A/N: No more papers to write. Now I can get back to writing stories.

* * *

"Now you see her over there?" I say, pointing towards the soccer field.

Boomer moves his glazed eyes from the ground. I swear, how am I related to him again?

"The girl with the long brown hair, that's Ashley. Now she's one of those girls who's into nice, sensitive types of guys. I'm tellin' you man, to her you're gonna be Daniel Craig and Johnny Depp rolled into one."

Boomer isn't looking at her. He's lookin' at the damn cloudy sky again. Honestly, how much moody crap am I gonna have to take from him and Brick?

"Come on Boomer I'm trying to help ya here." I say, giving him a little push. "You could at least look at her. I spent a lot of time lookin' for a girl you'd be compatible with."

"What's the point?" He asks quietly.

Oh great, here come the emo responses. "Because it will make you feel better," I say. "You're not turning into one of those people who likes being miserable, are you? Like Brick?"

"No I don't mean that, I mean…we're gonna destroy this place aren't we?"

"Well sure that's the plan, but we don't have to destroy _everything_."

"I have a feeling we will."

We sit quietly for a few minutes. I've been trying to avoid bringing this up. It's got a lot of bad implications, after all. I mean when I think back to when we were kids, how much of a villain was Boomer? He followed me and Brick everywhere and trashed whatever we trashed, but what about when he was alone? Ever since Buttercup mentioned his supposed friendship with Bubbles, I took some time to reflect. Boomer did use to disappear from time to time when we lived here. Back then I didn't think much about it. Boomer was always the black sheep. Kid never seemed to be on the same wavelength as me or Brick.

Course with my stupid little kid brain just shrugged it off. Figured he was a sissy and there really wasn't anything more to it. I never thought he'd be out having happy-fun time with the Blue Puff. No wonder he's been depressed, she went all goth while we were gone! So where does that leave him? Is he going to kill her when the time comes? Is he going to turn on us?

I look over at his sunken head. Alright, it's time to find out where he stands. "You know Boomer, I'm wondering if maybe there's another reason why you don't want me hooking you up."

I lean closer towards him. "Maybe because you've got your eyes on another girl."

Boomer looks over at me, but doesn't change his expression.

I give him a knowing smile. "Maybe a girl who used to be similar to you, but she's changed and you can't reach her? Maybe a girl your family wouldn't approve of?"

"It doesn't matter." He says. Isn't that just the god damn statement to end all statements these days? He stands up. "Mom and Dad are going to wipe this town off the face of the earth. They're not gonna leave a single thing alive." He says, and starts to walk away.

"Oh come on!" I say after him. "You expect me to believe that's what's making you upset? Look those two aren't the end all. If there's stuff we want to keep, we'll be able to freakin' keep it."

"No we won't." I hear him barely say as he leaves. Man, what is he so worried about. He thinks our dumbass 'parents' are gonna boss us around like that? Us, the three demi gods who could beat them to a pulp when we were five? Ugh, seriously. Can't he come up with a better excuse than that?

I lie down and close my eyes. I spend some time trying to clear my head. I probably only get about five minutes of peace before all my stupid problems come flashing around in my head. First there's Buttercup. I still haven't thought of a new way to get her to fight me. I owe her for beating me in too many fights. Man, how lame would it be if we killed her and I didn't get my epic showdown? And now Boomer is becoming a problem. Well…he could _become_ a problem. Actually…he could _have been_ a problem. If he spent all his free time as a kid kissing up to the Blue Puff, then there's no way he'd kill her…or let us kill her. But…maybe things will work out. She's already dead inside. Might just be able to take her down without him disowning us.

Then there's Brick who I've been worryin' about for a while now. Ever since we got here he's been dragging his feet. He's all like, "I've got a plan to infiltrate Blossom's club," and I end up doing it! In fact, I don't even know what the Hell he's been doing. I should go find him. Maybe bug him for a while to go have some fun. Man, I really miss the days when the two of us would steal cars and crash parties. We were best friends…and now he's off in his own world or somethin'.

When I open my eyes, two giant blue circles are right in front of my face. I let out a little yell jump back.

Oh look who it is, Ms. Goth herself. Wearing more ridiculous clothes as usual. Some sort of white and black getup.

"Damn, you are sneaky. Couldn't even sense you there. You're like a freakin' ghost." I say with a little laugh, trying to save face.

"Where's your brother?" She asks.

I can't help but sigh and shake my head. I mean really, I knew there'd be drama at high school, I just wasn't expecting something like this to pop up.

"Listen Bubbles," I say, "I know you and Boomer had something going on back in the day. But the thing is, you and him are just on totally different levels now. I really don't think it's gonna work. I bet it was exciting when you were kids, what with the whole Romeo and Juliet thing going on, but all that family feuding is in the past. I can tell you're the kind of girl lookin' for that forbidden excitement and all, but the magic with Boomer is gone now. Its best you move on. You should go to California. I hear there are all kinds of idiots over there with dyed hair and piercings and emotional music..." I close my eyes and take a moment to stretch my arms, "…and all that crap."

She's giving me a familiar look. It's that look my brothers give me when I tell them a bad joke. That look Mojo gives me when I put banana peels on the floor right outside his door. The way Buttercup has been looking at me every time I try to strike up an innocent, friendly conversation. Expressed in one word, I'd have to go with 'not amused.' Err, make that two words.

"I meant your other brother." She says in a deadpan voice.

You know, I do spend a lot of time with other people. I go to parties, I join pick-up games, I approach cute girls, you get the picture. Admittedly there are times when I feel awkward. They're not very common, mind you, but they do happen. Course I can recover from those moments. There are methods. But you know what, I can't think of a way to save this moment. And it's really not helping that she's looking at me the way Buttercup does. I can see some family resemblance going on.

"Oh uh…I don't know, actually." I say, looking from side to side.

"Was he in school the other day?" She asks in her regular monotone voice.

I think back to yesterday. Was Brick around? Honestly it's hard to tell.

"No…he wasn't." I say. "He's so quiet these days I didn't even notice. What do ya want to know that for anyway?"

"Something strange is going on." She says quietly, more like she's talking to herself. I watch her float away towards the tree line.

Yeah, I'd say things have been strange alright.

* * *

For once I'm not in the mood to do anything during gym. Guess my mind is too distracted by my stupid brothers and our stupid counterparts. I decide to go sit near the trees away from the school. No sign of Ms. Sunshine. Bet she loves this weather. It's really cloudy and there's fog. Not super thick fog, but enough so that I can't really see what the rest of my class is doin'.

Oh, and Brick isn't around.

I wouldn't have noticed if the Blue Goth hadn't said something. Usually he just kind of sits off to the side. Now I'm wondering…how many classes has he been absent from? Really weird for him to be missing class, any class. The guy's supposed to be Mr. Super Grades and you need attendance to get those. I lean back against a tree. Maybe he gave up since Blossom isn't Ms. Super Grades.

"Hey, Butch! Up here!"

Speak of the devil, there he is! I fly up to him. Hopefully the fog will keep anyone from seeing us flying.

"Hey I was just wondering where you were. Have you been skippin' class this week?" I ask.

"Yes I have, but I've got a good reason. I found something." He says with a smile.

"Is it that magic key that lets people control the world? Cause I'd really love to try that."

"Afraid not. Come on, I'll show you."

I follow Brick as we fly higher into the air. We head further out into the forest. It's kinda hard to tell from all the fog, but I think this is the forest where Fuzzy lives. Brick flies down and we land next to a giant rock.

He easily lifts the rock, revealing a hole. Just about wide enough for three people. Brick points down, signalin' me to go in. I go in first and Brick follows as he puts the rock back over. He takes out a flashlight and turns it on. Damn, this is one deep ass hole!

"Don't make a lot of noise." Brick whispers to me. "I don't want this whole place caving in."

We start to slowly float down. Deeper and deeper we go, miles and miles underground. I got to say, I'm pretty excited to see whatever the Hell it is he's been diggin' up!

"You ever wonder where Chemical X comes from?" Brick asks me.

"Nah." I reply.

"Well you're about to find out anyway." He says as we reach the end of the tunnel.

We enter some kind of large cave. It's got those pointy things coming out of the ceiling and floor. Well you can see some of them on the floor, sticking out of all the black…liquid.

"So all of this…is Chemical X?" I ask.

"Indeed. It's the motherload." Brick says as he grins. "And don't touch any of it. Getting too much in your system is dangerous, even for us."

"What is it doing here?"

"No clue." Brick shines the flashlight around the cavern. It's pretty damn big, and flooded with Chemical X. "I don't know how it got here or how long it's been here, but it's definitely not supposed to be here. The stuff's not natural. It must have come from another world."

Brick shines the light on the ceiling. There's some of it up there too, but it's a light blue color. "It mostly stays down here. Although sometimes it drains upwards, if that makes any sense. Scientists occasionally find it, and other times it gets absorbed into a creature or an object."

"No wonder this town is so freakin' weird." I say. "How did you find it?"

"Mojo found it a long time ago." Brick explains as he floats to the ceiling. "He wanted to harvest all of it, but he couldn't find a reliable way."

"Can't believe he didn't just make us do it."

Brick takes out a weird looking bottle and spoon. "I told you this stuff is dangerous. Regular humans can't get near this much without getting sick. We can get near it, but if we touch too much, it will kill us." Brick carefully scoops some of the light blue Chemical X into the bottle and puts on the lid, which automatically locks into place. "Mojo didn't want to risk it."

Brick floats over and hands me the bottle. "Here, you can use this."

"Use it for what?" I ask, taking the bottle.

"You're still trying to get under Buttercup's skin, right? Show her this. She'll freak out and demand to know where you got it." Brick starts back up the tunnel and I follow.

We head out of tunnel and cover it back up with the rock. I lightly shake the bottle, listening to the Chemical X move around. "Weird, huh? It's like finding your long lost home or something."

"I suppose." Brick says, crossing his arms. "We're going to use this as a backup plan. Just in case things get sketchy, we can lure the Puff's down there and give them a nice dunk."

"Ha, sounds really easy for me." I say.

"Don't forget, that pool is **very** dangerous. One slip up and it's over." Brick says as he puts on an evil little smile.

It's funny, I haven't seen Brick this lively in a long time. He's looking' and sounding' like his old, crazy self. But wow! I look down happily at the weird, space age bottle. This is exactly the thing I need to get Buttercup to completely lose it!

Oh yes Buttercup, I'm gonna get a fight out of you yet! And then we can have a fun little science experiment. We're gonna find out how much Chemical X is too much, heh-heh!


	13. Boomer Struggles

One place that hadn't changed much in Townsville was the junkyard. I kicked a stray can, watching it soar into the air. I heard the clang as it landed far on the other side of the complex. Yup, the junkyard was still full of garbage.

I'd spent about an hour floating around the place. Butch had already told us that the Gang Green Gang was long gone, and yet part of me was hoping they'd be here. Or some kind of sign, like the remains of an old hideout. But no, any hideout they had set up here was long gone. Crushed by some machine or bulldozed away years ago.

I'd spent the day looking around old hangouts like this one. The volcano base was still there. What was left of it anyway. We hadn't left much behind. The giant telescope was broken, of course, and the walls were rusted and falling over. Why was there a volcano in Townsville anyway? I'd never really stopped to consider how strange that is. Then again, there's a lot of strange things in Townsville, so maybe a volcano isn't all that out of place.

Princess' mansion is different. Her dad must have torn down the old one and built a whole new one, because it doesn't look anything like it used to. Not as many security cameras as the old mansion. It was something me and my brothers used to do all the time when we were kids. We would storm in in the middle of the night and start trashing the place. Princess would freak out and try to chase us off while we laughed at her. Mojo always got so pissed off when we did that, because Princess would send him the bill.

I'm not really sure why I was looking around all the old places. I guess this is what people do when they feel like…like they're going to…die soon. I decided that tonight I was going to tell Brick about what had happened last week. I hadn't done much of anything since then. Guess I've just been too afraid. Him could be watching my every move. He's probably been watching me this entire time. Every time I see the color red my blood freezes over. But I can't just keep living in fear like this. I decided I had wasted enough time for one night and flew home.

Right after I let the door slam shut I realized I had made a mistake. Brick was on the satellite phone with Mojo. Great, now I was going to have to go over and talk with them. Brick smiled a little when he saw me and nodded his head. I came over and saw Mojo on the large screen.

"Ah Boomer, you are just in time! Brick was telling me about the vast pool of Chemical X that is located deep underground in Townsville."

I momentarily forgot about my nervousness and widened my eyes. "Really? There's a big pool of it under the city?" I asked.

"That's right," Brick said, "and we finally have access to it now."

Mojo let out an evil laugh. "I have been waiting so long to use that immense source of power for my experiments! Think of all the amazing weapons we can power with it! It only took a small amount to give you and the Puffs your amazing powers, just think of what would happen if we created a being with triple that amount! Or quadruple even!"

"Slow down there monkey brain, we've got to figure out how to stabilize it before we can start using that much at once." Brick replied.

"Yes, yes, but just think of the possibilities. It's not only Earth that will be under our control, but we can take over the entire universe! We can explore the cosmos to find new amazing worlds like nothing we could have ever imagined…and then enslave all of them!" Mojo yelled as he threw his fists into the air.

"Where's uh…where's dad?" I asked as Mojo laughed like a hyena.

"I don't know. That weirdo is always disappearing. But Boomer, you must be very careful. If you get too much Chemical X in your system, it will cause your body to become unstable and you will die, cease to exist, melt into an inanimate puddle, cross over to the other side, purchase a farm, kick a bucket…"

"He gets it Mojo." Brick said while rolling his eyes.

Mojo started happily jumping up and down. I have to admit it was kind of funny to see him so excited like this. He stopped and cleared his throat. "But first thing is first, we must get those Powerpuff Girls out of our way. If they discover the whereabouts of the Chemical X, they could use it against the three of you. And even worse, they could use it against me! Do not reveal its existence unless you absolutely must."

"Not a problem." Brick said with a smile.

"Excellent. I've still got lots of work to do on my machine. Keep up the good work you two. Mojo, signing out." And with that, he was gone.

"Wow, a whole giant pool of it." I said absentmindedly.

"Amazing, huh? There're endless possibilities to that stuff. Once we learn how to stabilize it, that is." Brick said, walking to his room.

"Hey Brick wait, there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" He said, stopping at his door but not turning around.

"Last week I uh…I…I had a run in with Dad."

Brick turned around. "Oh, he was here?"

"Yes and he told me some things."

Brick crossed his arms and looked at me with his sharp, red eyes. "What did he say?"

I swallowed hard. "He was upset with me for not working hard enough so he…he did something to me. It really hurt. And then he said…and said that…well he implied that if we don't do our job this time…he's going to kill us."

"Is that right." Brick said without flinching.

"And listen. He also said that if something happens to him, like if he dies, then that means we'll die too."

"I know about that." He said quickly.

"You knew about that?" I said disbelief.

Brick turned around for a moment. He began tapping his foot. "Well I didn't know for sure, but I had my suspicions." He turned back around and looked at me. "I mean it makes sense, right. Him is weird but he's not stupid. He wouldn't create something more powerful than he is unless he could control it to some degree."

I let out a sigh. "Yeah, that makes sense."

"Look Boomer, I know what was going on back when we were kids."

I felt my body tense up. "Butch told you, didn't he?" I said quietly.

"Yes he told me about your former rendezvous with Bubbles. I can understand why you've got some reservations on what we're going to do to the three of them. But listen…it's either them, or us."

I couldn't come up with a response, so Brick went into his room and shut the door.

* * *

The stars are nice and bright tonight. The moon looks great too, nice and full. Bubbles told me once that she and her sisters ran away to the moon. I wonder what would happen if I just flew up there and sat on the moon. Would Him be able to sense I was up there? Would he look for me? Would he just let me be if I stayed up there forever?

I frowned. What am I doing, thinkin' about running away? Isn't that what I did when I was a kid? I could have stayed with Bubbles. But instead I ran away from her because I was scared. It's been seven years, and have I changed at all?

What have I even accomplished since I got here? I wanted to stop this whole thing from happening. Every time I tried to talk to Blossom or Buttercup, I'd either get nervous or scared. And when I tried to talk to Bubbles, I couldn't get anything done.

I stand up. I've been sitting on the roof of our house for a while now. Brick left about an hour ago, saying he had to go do something in the Chemical X pit. Butch is out doing who knows what, and me…I'm just sitting here. Doing nothing.

I take to the sky and fly out into the suburbs. I've had enough of this. I came here to stop my family from killing the girls, and I'm going to do it! And it's not just them, now the whole universe is going to be at risk. I remember hearing a quote once. It said that the only way for evil to be victorious is if good men do nothing to stop it. Well I'm not going to sit by and let everyone get killed, or enslaved or whatever by my parents. I land at the girl's house and knock on the door.

I wait a little bit and the door opens. It's the professor guy again. "Hello there Boomer. Come to visit at an unreasonable hour again, have you?" He says without any hint of anger or irritation. How does this guy stay so upbeat all the time?

"Are any of the girls home?" I ask. "I need to speak with them about something really important."

"I'm sorry Boomer, but none of my girls are home right now. I'm not really sure where Bubbles or Blossom are. Those two have such hectic lives an old man like me can't even begin to keep up with them, ha-ha." He says with a smile. "But if you want to talk to Buttercup, she left a little while ago to meet with one of your brothers actually."

My eyes widen. No doubt it was Butch she went to meet. He'd been bragging to me yesterday that he finally found a way to get her to fall into his hands. Dammit, I'd been so depressed lately that I'd barely been paying attention to anything he said. "Where did she go? Where are they meeting?" I ask as quickly as I can.

"At the junkyard. Apparently-"

I fly off before he can finish. It doesn't take me long to get there. Funny that I was there not long ago. If I had stuck around longer I would have bumped into them. Of course if I hadn't gone home I probably wouldn't have found my resolve.

I slow down as I approach. The stench of rotting food surrounds me as I silently hover over the fence. I can hear the two of them arguing. I make my way over to where they are standing. There isn't a lot of cover, but they seem too absorbed in each other to notice me, I hope. I don't want to pop out until I know what's going on.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous that stuff is?!" I hear Buttercup yell.

I look over at them. Butch is throwing something up and down in the air. "I think someone might have mentioned it being kind of dangerous." I hear him say.

"If even a drop of that spills on something there's no telling what could happen!"

"Think that got mentioned too. Imagine how exciting this is going to be. I can pour it on anything and it will probably turn into something from a Godzilla movie. And when I run out…well…there's _plenty_ more where this came from."

I can see the anger on Buttercup's face. It's nostalgic watching these two like this. I remember how Butch used to go out of his way to upset her. It was always some small, childish thing. He would steal her basketball, or throw mud at her, or chuck rocks through her window in the middle of the night. "It's so funny when she's angry." Butch would tell us when we were hanging out at Mojo's place. "And it's so easy too."

Brick would usually come up with some mean remark like "Of course it's easy, I'd be angry too if I had to see your ugly face that much," or "Of course she gets really angry, kicking your ass is so easy she's sick of having to do it all the time." Then they'd get in a fight and Mojo would yell at them for trashing the place.

I stop daydreaming and pay attention. She's getting into her old fighting stance I haven't seen in years. "I've been trying very hard to contain that chemical for the last year Butch, and I am _not_ letting you ruin this city and my efforts to keep it safe."

Butch has an evil grin on his face. He holds the thing they've been talking about in front of him. It looks like some kind of tube. "If you want it so bad, then let's see you take it."

Taking his advice, I zip between them and grab the small tube. They both look at me with shocked faces. Butch's expression quickly turns to an angry one. "And just what the Hell do you think you're doin'?" He demands.

"I'm taking a stand." I say to him.

"Why do you have to do this now!" He yells as he flies right at me. He's completely lost his cool and collected composure, which is good, because now he can't focus. On the other hand, if he catches me he'll beat the stuffing out of me. I zigzag away as he chases after me. The nice thing about this junkyard is all the large piles of garbage. They give me some form of cover to work with. As we rush around I eventually manage to lose him. Butch keeps flying around at high speeds, looking everywhere he can. He stops for a second to survey the area. I take this chance and push him as hard as I can into one of the huge piles. I immediately speed off to the other end of the junkyard.

I land next to a pile as far away as I can. I start digging around, looking for another small tube. I can hear Butch yelling as he flies around the junkyard. "Dammit Boomer, as usual you've picked the worst possible time to start pulling some stupid shit! I finally got her right where I want her!"

I keeping looking but I can't find any kind of tube. Just my freaking luck. After another minute I find one of those dog toys that looks like a bone. It will have to do. I take the tube Butch was holding earlier and put it in my pants pocket. After it's secured away I wait for Butch to fly closer. Once he's close enough, I jump up on top of the garbage pile and throw the dog toy as hard as I can.

Butch stops and watches as the dog toy I threw disappear over the horizon. He looks over at me with lowered eyes. I just stand there and wait for him to make a move. If I'm lucky I might be able to outrun him. Otherwise there isn't much of anything I can do. There's no way I can take him in a one on one fight. He'll just pound me to a pulp like he used to do when we were kids. There's a nostalgic trip I was really hoping I wouldn't have to take.

Butch doesn't attack me. Instead he just crosses his arms. "So that's it then." He says while he looks off into the distance where I threw the bone. "You've chosen them over us."

Buttercup suddenly appears near us. She's about to say something but Butch starts talking first. "It's gone. He threw it all the way to Russia, probably." Buttercup spares me glance, then redirects her attention back to my brother, who's smiling at her. "Guess I'll just have to go get some more." Butch says shrewdly.

Dammit, no wonder he isn't beating the crap out of me. He still has her hooked.

"That was Chemical X, wasn't it?" I ask. "Brick just told me about the huge pool he found."

Buttercup's eyes widen. "A huge pool? Where? How much is there?" She demands.

"More then I'd ever know what to do with." Butch says smugly. He looks over at me. "Look Boomer, I know you're havin' a hard time with all this. If you would just leave I can pretend this little setback you've made never happened."

I glare at him. "What would it matter, you already told Brick about me and Bubbles." I say.

"No I didn't." Butch says as he raises an eyebrow.

"I was just talking to him before I came here, and he said that you told him."

"But I didn't tell him anything. I've barely seen the guy all week."

"That doesn't make any sense! Why would Brick…"

I stop talking. I just had a thought. I really, really bad thought. I look over at Buttercup. "Has Brick been in any of the classes you two had this week?" I ask.

Buttercup shakes her head. "No he hasn't. Blossom hasn't seen him either, and she's been wondering."

"He told me he was going to his other classes." I say. I remember how Brick hadn't been coming to our photography class. I asked him a few days ago and he said he'd been skipping the small stuff because he had too much work to do.

"He told me that too." Butch says. "Why would he tell us that he-"

I fly up and grab Butch by his jacket. "Where's the Chemical X pit!" I yell.

Butch quickly pushes me off. "Hey watch it there, traitor. I'm not about to take you over to-"

"Butch, I think something bad is happening. Brick might be in a lot of trouble right now. He told me he was going to the pit." I say. Butch tries to say something but I keep going. "You're the only other person who knows where the pit is. I'm serious, he could be in really big trouble! And if he is, that means we're in a lot of trouble too! Something weird is going on with Brick, and I think I know what it is! Please, show me where the pit is!"

Butch grits his teeth and looks at me. He looks over at Buttercup for a moment, then up at the starry sky. "You know, Bubbles was lookin' for him the other day, which is weird enough. And she said something strange is goin' on…"

Butch sighs and looks at me. "Every bone in my body is telling me this is a mistake, but-"

"Oh thank you!" I say happily.

Butch starts flying towards the forest while Buttercup and I follow him. After a couple of minutes we follow him down into the trees. "If he's not in trouble, I want you to know that you sure as Hell will be." He says as we land next to a large rock.


	14. Confrontation

Bubbles made her way down the dark tunnel as quickly as she could. As much as she wanted to simply rush towards the faint light, she held back just enough so that nothing would be able to hear her. She, however, could hear the sounds coming from far off. The sounds of her sister, crying out in pain. Bubbles bit her lip and continued to resist the urge to speed up. She knew who she was dealing with.

The pit of Chemical X was not in its usual dark state. Large tube lights had been set up all over the cavern walls. Even with the light it was still difficult to make out the black liquid that flooded the floor. No light reflected off of its pitch black surface. Near the middle of the cave, a metal platform had been setup. On the platform, just barely above the dangerous chemical below, were Brick and Blossom.

Blossom's vision was hazy. Her head ached terribly. Her arms and legs felt as if they were being held down by multiple tons of lead. Her long red hair drooped down across her back, looking as if it had not been washed in weeks. She was not being held in any way, not by ropes, cuffs, or an energy field. Despite that, there was no way she could move from that spot.

While her body may have been in extreme pain, it could not begin to compare to the pain her heart was currently in. Brick was standing over her, his red eyes shining in the darkness. His expression did not show any joy, yet it did not show any remorse either. He simply looked down at her with a stony stare. Brick had left a letter in Blossom's locker, requesting that she meet him at the apartment where he and his brothers were living. She'd been so happy when she arrived, eager to spend time with her former enemy. All of that vanished when he had struck her over the head, so hard that she had blacked out.

Now they were down in the pit. Brick had been injecting bits of Chemical X into her. Each one felt more painful than the last. All Blossom wanted to do was talk. There were dozens of questions she had, but there was only one word she so wished she could utter…why?

So far Brick had not said a word. He simply watched her suffer with a blank expression. Blossom knew her body couldn't take much more of the Chemical X. Even worse, there was no way her heart could take any more of what Brick was doing to her.

After another minute, Brick finally spoke in a quiet voice. "I'm sorry it had to come to this Blossom. If I don't kill you and your sisters, then my brothers and I will have to pay the price. No matter how much I care for you…I can't put you first."

Tears found their way down Blossom's face. She wanted to plead to him, to tell him that they could find another way. She wanted to yell for her sisters to come help her. She wanted to know why this was happening. But her voice would not work. All she could do was sit there, helpless.

Brick's eyes widened in surprise as he saw a shadow lurk across the wall. He turned around and his angry red eyes met with a calm blue. Bubbles floated silently. It was clear from her intense gaze that she had purposely allowed her shadow to come into Brick's view. If Blossom had been able to see far enough, some her tension would undoubtedly have lifted. Bubbles was wearing a cameo ensemble. A long shirt, long pants, and a vest lined with many pockets.

Brick was completely unaffected by the spectacle. His face twisted in frustration at the sight of the Blue Puff. He let out the breath he had been holding in and began to speak. "You found us, I see. I'm afraid that your other sister was right in her assumptions. The three of us were sent here to finally end this battle. Now the time-"

"I know it's you." Bubble said firmly, interrupting Brick.

Brick immediately stopped his monologue. A huge smile spread across his face. Had either of his bothers been there to witness it, they would have felt shivers down their spines. Brick had not given such an evil and enjoyable smile in many, many years. Bubbles, however, remained steadfast. Although when Brick began to chuckle deeply, she felt her heart began to race. It was that same laugh.

"Well I knew I wouldn't be able to fool you, my dear." Brick said. "I thought if I avoided you I'd be able to have one of my plans go smoothly for once," He let out a loud sigh and looked sadly at the ceiling, "But really, when has anything ever gone smoothly thanks to the three of you?"

"I knew you'd come back someday." Bubbles said bluntly. "Even though you never stood a chance against us when we were children, your twisted mind thinks you can somehow defeat us now that we're stronger."

"Oh, is that what you think, that you're stronger?" Brick said, waving his hand for emphasis.

Slowly, the room began to change. The light flowing from the many tubes turned red. It crawled along the walls, making its way into the pool of Chemical X. The black liquid began to boil, sending bubbles into the air. Bubbles wrinkled her face slightly as she watched her namesakes float about as if they were in a lava lamp.

Brick began to slowly fly into the air. "Has our little Bubbles really changed all that much?" He hovered across from her and tilted his head slightly. "The clothing and attitude certainly suggest it, but let's take a moment to really analyze this situation."

Brick extended his arm towards Blossom, as if presenting the weak girl to a crowd. "I'm down here torturing your sister to death, which you must have figured out a while ago, and you've come down here to save her. Seems pretty simple at first," Brick lowered his eyes and grinned, "but…why did you come down here alone?"

Bubbles noticed that the cavern walls appeared to be moving. It almost seemed like they were breathing. The black bubbles of Chemical X weaved and moved around the room as Brick continued talking. "If you ask me it would have made a lot more sense for you to bring your other sister down her to help you out. Perhaps…" Brick began to move closer to the Blue Puff, although it was difficult to tell with all the erratic movements going on. "…what we have here is a girl who foolishly came alone so she could save the day by herself. This isn't just a horrible torture chamber down her, it's an opportunity. Perhaps this girl wants to finally prove herself and get the respect she never got."

Bubbles had not moved an inch. She continued to stay still as Brick came right up to her face. "If that's the case…I'd say you haven't changed one bit, Bubbles, you silly little girl." Brick whispered.

In the blink of eye, Bubbles reached into one of the pockets of her vest and threw a handful of sand at the Red Ruff. Brick hissed and recoiled as smoke leapt off his skin. He continued to smile though, and looked at Bubbles with wide, crazed eyes. "And still full of surprises!" He yelled with a laugh.

Bubbles moved back, and Brick was quick to give chase. She hesitated for a moment when she reached the wall. Brick drew his arm back and delivered a punch, which only met with the rock wall. His red eyes immediately began scanning the room. Bubbles hadn't gone far, so he lunged towards her again. Like before, his punches only succeeded in hitting the walls.

Bubbles soon landed on the small platform that held her sister. Blossom could feel herself recovering, albeit slowly. She had heard it, Brick taunting Bubbles and the sound of solid rock being crushed all around her. She had had enough time to recover her voice. "Bubbles…" she said quietly as her sister stood tall between her and her counterpart.

"Too slow." Bubbles said. "You don't know how to control his body completely."

While Brick was putting on a smug smile, Blossom heard her sister whisper to her. "Cover your ears." Gathering her strength, Blossom cupped her hands, trying to cover her ears as best she could.

"Completely…no. Enough…YES!" Brick said as he shot his eye lasers. Had anyone been watching, they no doubt would have noticed that they looked different. There was a swirling blackness twisted along the deep red. This did not concern Bubbles though, who opened her mouth wide and screamed. The sonic blast raged right towards Brick, dissipating the laser. Bubbles' cry rang out and shook the earth around them.

Brick stopped himself from falling into the Chemical X just in time to get hit in the face by a large stalactite. He let out an annoyed yell as it bounced off him. After checking to make sure another wasn't about it follow suit, he say a blue streak rushing out through the tunnel. More importantly, he noticed that the entire cave was falling in on itself. The cracks he had made while trying to hit the Blue Puff were sending large veins all along the walls.

"Well this is just super." Brick said as the ceiling closed in on him.

* * *

"Wait, we can't go in right away." Boomer said, putting himself between his brother and the large boulder.

Butch gave an irritated look. "The whole reason we came here was because-you know what, why am I even arguing about this." He tried to push his brother out of the way.

"No I'm serious!" Boomer said, refusing to let Butch pass. "We need like a battle plan, and uh maybe some weapons."

"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Butch retorted.

"Sorry I…I have a lot going through my mind at the moment."

"Look I'm just going to go down there and take a peek, ok? Now listen to your older brother and move it."

"You're not older than me, we were all born at the same time."

"Let's not get into _this_ again."

The two ceased their bickering as they felt the ground shake. Before any of them could comment, Bubbles blasted through the boulder covering the tunnel. Buttercup barely had time to register what was happening as Bubbles placed Blossom in her arms, told her not to move, and disappeared into the woods.

The three gave their attention to the almost dead looking Powerpuff Leader.

"Oh God! Blossom, what happened!" Buttercup said, choking up at the sight of her sister.

"Oh…damn." Butch spat out. He couldn't bring himself to think of some kind of silly comment. Seeing Blossom so lifeless was much harder for him to witness then he would have thought.

The trio was met with another figure shooting up from the ground, this time it was Brick. He floated in the air above them, grimacing as he tried to shake the dirt off his body. "That…was unpleasant." He said as he looked at his surroundings.

"Aw great, gang's all here." He said downtrodden.

Before he could do or say anything, Bubbles shot out of the trees and slapped a piece of paper onto his back. Brick looked over his shoulder, confused, and then noticed what she had done. He screamed as his body was engulfed in a bright light. Boomer, Butch and Buttercup had to shield their eyes as the light intensified. Soon it was gone, and they heard a thud. Brick was lying on the ground in front of them. Above, however, was the demon known only as Him.

"I knew it!" Boomer yelled.

"What? What is going on?" Butch asked, looking between his brother and father.

Boomer pointed up at the clawed demon. "Him was possessing Brick!"

Him floated on his side, resting his head against one of his claws. "_Literately a few seconds from completely destroying Blossom, only to have everything go to my favorite place. Story of my life_."

Bubbles took the opportunity to rush towards Him once again. She flew above and dumped a canister of water onto his head. Him merely made a ticking sound and wagged his claw as the water went right through him. The apparition disappeared, and the real Him appeared behind Bubbles, hitting her with his venomous spit. She yelled and fell to the ground next to Brick, who was getting up. He eyed the demon with pure hatred in his eyes. "You…" He started, but fell to the ground in pain.

Boomer and Butch also fell, clutching their heads. Him grinned and looked down at Blossom, who was still in Buttercup's arms. "**Be a shame to let all this go to waste**." He growled, raising his arms up. Bits of black liquid began to rise up through the ground.

"Don't let it touch you!" Bubbles yelled, rushing over to her sisters as Buttercup took to the air.

Him laughed as he continued to draw up the Chemical X. "_If you girls want to stop me, be my guest. Of course, if you take me down, my boys will be going with me. You want to defeat me, and save the boys…let me make this as clear as I can_…," he said as he lowered his eyes, "…**you cannot do both**."

Bubbles let out an angry gasp. She looked at Blossom, at Buttercup, at Him, at Boomer. She didn't move. She wanted desperately to take action, any action. Her body and mind refused. The sadistic choice had no answer.

The Chemical X continued to rise up. The drops began to gleam with a red tint as the demon put his essence into them. Him turned his attention to the City. "_Now then, what do you say we revisit that time I turned the entire city against you girls? Only this time, let's see what happens when the citizens are able to fight back_! _If the boys don't want to play, there are always new weapons to be made_!"

Brick felt some of the pain begin to subside. Some of the drops of Chemical X had been drawn into him as they came out of the ground. With each drop, the pain in his body become less and less. When he heard him say the word weapon, he shot up into the air.

Him cried out as Brick grabbed onto his neck and throttled him from behind. "**What, how are you**?" He said angrily, and increased the pain within his child. Brick cried out as he felt the intense pain return, but also increased his grip on the demon's neck.

While the two were in their deadlock, Boomer and Butch had begun to recover.

"Dammit…we're…we can't…do anything…" Butch said as he breathed heavily.

Boomer got to his feet. "I'm gonna do something, even if it kills me!" He proclaimed and flew into the air.

"YOU?! More like all of us!" Butch yelled after him.

"**Ungrateful little**-" Him said as he continued to struggle. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the blue streak coming towards him. He let out a small laugh as he embraced himself for the impact. Boomer slammed headfirst into the demon, causing Him to yell out in pain. Now badly injured, Him, Brick, and the Chemical X starting falling to the ground.

Boomer quickly caught his brother, leaving Him to hit the ground. Following without delay was a wave of Chemical X, which hit dead on as if being guided. Him began to let out a horrible wail. Red smoke rose from his body as if he were on fire. He continued to howl in pain, his voice deep and booming. Soon his screams grew quieter, until he was doing nothing more than squeaking in his feminine voice. His body disappeared into red smoke, which vanished into the air.

Blossom had regained enough of her energy to stand, with some support from Buttercup. The three girls watched with their mouths agape as the demon that had haunted them for so long slowly died away. The boys watched in a similar fashion.

No one moved. There wasn't a sound to be heard. The six of them stood there, waiting. Waiting, and waiting…and waiting. Butch was the first who dared to move, patting himself along his chest. He looked over at his brothers, and scratched his head. "We're not…blowing up or meltin' or anything…" He said cautiously.

Brick let his shoulders fall. He took in a long breath. He never realized how great it felt to breath. "He was lying to us." He stated.

Boomer let out a huge sigh and fell onto his back. "Good, that's so great. I've never been happier to been lied to." He said with a smile.

"That is great and all…" Butch said, "…except that the two of you didn't know that when you offed him!" He yelled.

Brick shook his head and walked over to the girls. Boomer sat up and looked at Butch. "If we hadn't done something the whole city would be tearing itself apart right now." He said.

Butch frowned. "Well excuse me for not being as suicidal as you guys."

Like Boomer, Bubbles was also sitting down, relieved.

Brick walked over and put a hand on Blossom's shoulder. "You ok?" He asked.

She smiled. "I've had worse."

"That could have been it," Brick said, "I could have died right there."

Buttercup moved over as Blossom allowed Brick to help support her. "Wouldn't be the first time, huh?" She said.

Brick smiled. "Yeah, only this time there'd be no magical demon to bring us back…"

Brick tilted his head toward Blossom until their foreheads touched. Blossom felt her heart began to race as she looked into Brick's eyes. He stared deeply into her large, pink orbs. "I've been living my life all wrong. Thinking I had to go along with those crazy maniacs. No, life is far too short to not be doing what makes me happy…"

With that, Brick pulled Blossom in and kissed her. Any pain Blossom was still experiencing from her ordeal vanished. She took it all in, the feel of his lips against hers, his scent mingling with the raw soil that he was still covered in.

The other four watched on with wide eyes. Boomer was surprised, but happily smiled none the less. Buttercup was trying to hold her smile back, but not doing a good job of it. Bubbles may have been better at trying not to, but it was evident in her face.

Butch, however, was not so amused.

"Oh, come on!" He said angrily. "You were gonna let us die just because all you can think about is getting into her pants!"

A comment like that would have ruined any romantic mood. Luckily Blossom Brick were too absorbed in each other to have heard him clearly. Buttercup and Boomer were free to give him dirty looks. Butch pointed an accusing finger at his blue clad brother. "I'm pretty sure you were thinking about something else then the stupid people of stupid Townsville! Say what you will about all the crap I've done, but I never put a girl over the two of you." He mumbled angrily to himself as he flew off.

Brick was only vaguely aware of his brother's outburst as he held Blossom. "I've been lying a lot to you Blossom. I need to tell you about what-"

"We can worry about the small things later." She said, looking at him. "The important thing…that's what I know now…" she said softly.

Brick let out a content sigh. They weren't out of the woods yet, but they were on the right trail.


	15. Start of Disc 2

The sun was just beginning to come up. The small bits of light peeked over the horizon. They traveled up the numerous buildings of Townsville. At the top of the highest skyscraper the light reached out and shone on Boomer's hair, helping to illuminate the blonde color. After taking a moment to admire the day's welcome, he pushed down on his skateboard.

Down the side of the skyscraper he went. The air felt amazing. He spread his arms out. As he neared the concrete sidewalk below, the blue Ruff launched himself off the building and sped down the street. Morning rush hour had already begun, but the thousands of cars meant nothing to him. He twisted, turned, and rushed through the traffic. Any of the people in the cars would have merely seen a blue streak for only a second.

Boomer slowed down when he reached the park. He briskly made his way along the various pathways, trying to ignore the large volcano that loomed overhead. He slowed down further when he spotted a familiar black-haired girl standing near its base.

"Hey Buttercup, didn't expect to see you here so early." Boomer said, coming to a stop.

"Same here. So that was you rushing around out on the highway."

"How'd you know I was out there?"

Buttercup reached down for her water bottle. "I sensed something moving around. I was a little worried it might of been someone else." She said, taking a sip.

"You're sharp alright." Boomer said as he picked up his board. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

"Doing my Tai Chi. Best way to start the morning. Helps focus my mind and body."

"Oh sure, Brick does that too."

"Oh he does?" Buttercup said, with more perk in her voice.

"Yeah he used to try and get me to do it too, but I really don't have the patience for it I guess, haha." Boomer scratched the back of his head.

"I don't suppose your other brother practices it too?"

"Nah, Butch is more about lifting and punching things. Not that we can ever get him up in the morning. Unless we fry a ton of bacon."

Buttercup shook her head and tried to hide her smirk. "You usually skateboard this early?"

Boomer put his board down and slowly moved along the sidewalks. "No I usually skate in the evening. I guess I've just been feeling so good that I wanted to get up and move around."

"Hey listen," Buttercup said as she watched him, "you were really looking out for us. I know I was being a bitch and all when you were just trying to help…"

"No, not at all." Boomer said as he jumped over a street light, flipping his board as he soared over it. "I'm just really happy things worked out. I thought I was completely screwed when Him told me that I'd die if he died."

"And you still took him down, even though you thought that…"

Boomer smiled at her. "The three of us aren't so bad, are we?"

Buttercup took another drink of her water. "I hate to bring it up and ruin the mood, but any idea about what Mojo is up to?"

"Oh, Brick is looking into it. Honestly I'm not as worried about him. In fact I'm feeling too good to be worried about anything."

"I hear you. I've been pretty relieved myself. Especially now that I know about that pit of Chemical X."

"Yeah who knows what kind of possibilities that stuff holds. Well I'm craving some air, so I'll catch you later." He said, speeding off.

"Later." Buttercup said, smiling as she watched him off.

* * *

"Ugh, this is hard to explain." Butch groaned as he lay back on the couch.

Blossom sat on her chair across from him. She held her notebook in front of her, although she had yet to write anything down. Her pen spent most of its time in her mouth being chewed on. "We've um, got plenty of time. If you um, if you're sure you want to talk to me about this…"

Butch lazily gave her a thumbs up. "It's cool. You're involved and all, but it's not you I'm havin' a problem with."

"Alight." Blossom said in a slightly shaky voice. "Anytime you want to start."

"Ok here's the rundown Red. I've got a major conflict going on with my emotional feelings and whatnot." Butch said as he softly pounded his fists together above him. "Thing is, I'm pretty pissed at my brothers for the whole willing to kill all of three of us thing. Sure from the outside it's all romantic and crap, but not so much when you're a factor that's not even considered. We've always been tight, we've always been a team. But ever since we came to Townsville and you girls got involved in the equation…" He looked over at her with narrowed eyes.

Blossom felt her blood get a bit colder. There was too much tension in the room for her liking. It did not help that she was personally involved in her patient's problem. That was a big no-no in her line of work. She shifted around uncomfortably and tried to look at the plants in the corner.

"But," Butch began, relaxing his brow, "it's not like I wanted something to happen to you…"

Blossom smiled and felt the weight on her shoulders disappear. "It's a tough situation because there's really no right answer, is there?"

Butch let out an annoyed sound. "Thing is I really don't know what to do. I've just been avoidin' both of em' so far."

"I don't think it's because you're mad at them Butch. I think you just don't know what to feel, or what to say to them."

Butch was quiet for a moment. "I hadn't thought of that. You're right though. I don't know if I should yell at them, or make unpleasant faces at them, or take hilarious, sarcastic stabs at them…"

"You should wait for now. Keep taking some time off from them. Eventually it will come to you and you'll feel when it's time to go talk to them."

"This_ is_ all confidential, right?"

Blossom closed an invisible zipper across her lips.

"Ok I'll wait then." Butch said. "Take a little vacation. Enjoy not being dead. Also I've got another little interpersonal problem that needs fixed…"

"Is this about what happened with Buttercu-"

"I would have stopped!" Butch yelled as he sat up. "I would have felt bad. Sick even. I'm not into watching people slowly suffer. I mean I love a good fight and it's fun to know they wish they could be as amazing as I am, but I'm not into devil's rejects kind of stuff. I'm not Satan or anything."

"I know that Butch. There's a lot of depth to you. The fact that you feel so bad about something you didn't even do speaks volumes."

Butch lied back down on the couch. "Now I'm wishing we didn't have the confidential thing."

"I know it's tough, but if you want to apologize to Buttercup you need to go and have a talk with her. Tell her what you're telling me. Speak from the heart, and see if you can hold off on the jokes for five minutes."

Butch raised his hand up and stared at it. "Am I…even capable?" He said in a dramatic tone.

Blossom chuckled. "At least tone it down a little bit. You don't have to perform a miracle, just a-"

She was cut off by a loud beeping noise. Over on her desk a telephone blinked its red light across the room. "Pardon me for a moment." Blossom said as she picked up the receiver. "What is it Mayor? Yes…uh-huh…oh…oh goodness! Was anyone hurt? Oh…I see. Yes I'll be there right away."

"Sorry Butch, we'll have to cut this short." She said as she turned to her green-clad patient. "However, if you want to come along this could be a good chance for you to talk to Buttercup."

Butch let out a loud sigh. "And here I was hoping for some rehearsal before opening night."

"If you're not ready I can tell her to meet you later-"

"No, no." Butch said, getting up. "Better to act now then later. He who hesitates is lost, and whatnot."

* * *

Brick had never seen a room like Bubbles. He recalled that he and his brothers had once attacked a kids restaurant with a similar vibe. All kinds of colorful furniture and large happy objects that looked like something you could only find in your imagination. It was similar, but that restaurant, funhouse, whatever place had nothing on the detail Bubbles had put into her room.

The theme was obvious enough, nature. The first thing that struck him upon entering the room was where she hung all of her clothes. It seemed a conventional closet wasn't her style. Instead she had what looked like a large tree in the center. The braches and limbs acted as hangers for her various wardrobes. After examining it, Brick could tell that there was a certain order to it. It seemed that certain clothes used and shared certain accessories, such as hats, gloves, scarves, among others. It worked well with the branch set up. Strange, but impressive.

One corner of her room appeared to be some kind of mushroom farm. Another corner sported an indoor pond. Her ceiling was painted as if it were the sky. One side presented a blue sky with beautifully painted clouds. The other side, which was where her bed was located, held the starry night sky. Brick wasn't much of artist, but he took notice of the way the middle of the ceiling shifted from day to night. The clouds reflected a beautiful yellow and pink color, and the stars slowly and subtly began to make their appearance. No doubt she had painted it herself. It was also impressive, it seemed to Brick like the kind of ceiling one would find in a preschool classroom, only far more polished.

The floor was carpeted green. Brick imagined that if it was easier, she would have had actual grass make up the floor. Probably would have had an actual tree, in fact. Bubbles was rummaging through some kind of…cabinet that looked like a stump.

"Quite a room you've got here." He said.

Bubbles gave a slight nod.

"I'm probably one of the few to have seen it, aren't I?"

Bubbles didn't have a response to that statement.

Brick began to wonder how much time it had taken her to build the place, when she stood up.

"Here." She handed him a small bottle.

"What is it exactly?" He asked.

"Mojo is a chimpanzee. If you pour this on him, he won't be able to stop scratching himself."

Brick smiled as he pictured the monkey having a scratching fit. "You don't think punching him will be enough?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Bubbles said, taking out her cellphone. She flipped it open and slightly cringed aa she read the text message. "Come on, we need to go."

"Why, what is it?" Brick asked.

"Someone burned down the orphanage."

* * *

A/N: Wanted to post something today so I made sure I had some free time (Who needs biology lectures anyway?). How could I resist? A chapter on valentines day with no romance in it, just too perfect.


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